


These aching bones

by sgtbaarnes (Thighz)



Series: Old Bones [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, McHanzo - Freeform, Menopause, Miscarriage, Scenting, Sexual Content, for Omegas, mention of MPREG, old soldiers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-09-27 20:12:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 38,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10045907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thighz/pseuds/sgtbaarnes
Summary: With old age comes the typical side effects. Aching joints, less energy, and a general dislike of what the body becomes. The only upside to old age, is that as an omega, his heats are no longer a potent, crippling hindrance.An old mated pair meet on the battlefield.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> After a discussion on whether or not Omega's hit a version of menopause at a certain age was had, this fic was born. 
> 
> Enjoy.

  
  


With old age comes the typical side effects. Aching joints, less energy, and a general dislike of what the body becomes. Jack is no stranger to old age, he was there before the explosion and he’s there after. Being a vigilante doesn’t help the joints or the energy levels, but it gets the job done. 

The only upside to old age, is that as an omega, his heats are no longer a potent, crippling hindrance. He can ride the edge of a heat easily now, using what little pheromones an alpha can detect as a way to loosen a tongue. When he was a younger man, they would knock him down for three days. 

Angela gives him a side-eyed look from her spot beside him on the carrier. He had already told her he was entering it in time for the mission. They didn’t  _ need  _ it, but he was still able to operate at his normal functionality, even with the itch under his skin.

“I can’t smell you.” Lucio wrinkles his nose, “Is that normal? Aren’t heats supposed to be really strong, even to betas?”

Jack looks up from where he’s cleaning his gun, mouth open behind his mask to explain, but Angela beats him to it.

“Omega’s go through a kind of menopause when they hit a certain age.” She states, “If an omega is mated, they will continue to have them, but they remain a lazier, less distracting heat and the Alpha answers with a similar version of a rut. If an omega never mates, the heats disappear completely. “

Lucio makes an ‘O’ with his mouth, “Wow.”

“An alpha can smell it, but it doesn’t smell like a heat.” Angela continues, “It smells more like really attractive cologne, so the mated omega isn’t in any danger.”

Jack snorts, rubbing the outer shell of his rifle with a red cloth, “We still don’t risk using other alphas on a mission with me anyway. Just in case biology has another plan.”

“Which is why I’m here, loves.” Tracer winks from her reclining position across the room, “All Betas to escort Soldier.”

Jack continues to listen to the three of them talk as he puts the rifle back together and sets it against the wall of the carrier. The mission is a short one, gather intel and stake out the new Talon safehouse. In, out, easy. 

“So does that mean you’re mated?” Lucio cuts in.

Jack’s stomach clenches and the itch under his skin flares at the mention of  _ mated _ .

“Lucio, that’s not-.” Both Tracer and Angela blurt, but Jack just shakes his head.

“Yea. I was.” 

The mood of the room goes south fast, all the members around him averting eyes. The horror of losing a mate is not lost on them. 

“Almost there, lads and ladies.” The pilot calls. 

Jack rises to his feet, grabbing the rifle and making his way to the back bay door. Angela and Lucio grab their own weapons and join him, along with Tracer. The four of them stand at the door, waiting for the signal.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Angela asks one last time, he hopes.

Jack nods, “I’ve done this for the last five years, Ang.” He shrugs a shoulder, “Plus. It keeps my mind off of it.”

“Opening bay!” Pilot calls and the door groans open against the wind around the carrier, “‘Bout ten feet from the ground, mind your legs.”

Jack leaps first, boots hitting the ground with a hard thud and he hears Lucio and Tracer land behind him. Mercy swoops in at his side, staff at the ready and wings slowly folding against her back. The streets are silent, no surprise with Talon crawling through them like a cancer. A few window curtains flutter shut as they pass. Fear like that is why Jack became a soldier in the first place. 

“Where did Winston say the safehouse was?” Tracer asks.

“Warehouse by the water.” Jack grunts, “Said it should look run-down and vacant.” 

“Figures.” Lucio snorts.

They slip down an alley to the left, Jack following the scent of seawater and the call of gulls. The water shimmers black under the moon and it would be beautiful, if they had been visiting under better circumstances. 

“Avoid engagement.” Jack reminds them, “We are to confirm the safe house and get out.” 

“Got it.” Tracer salutes, “Blitz formation?” 

Jack nods once and she zips away to the climb the stairs to the roof top. Lucio skates behind some cargo units and disappears from sight. Angela sticks behind Jack and he can feel nerves from the scarce feet separating them.

“Are  _ you _ okay?” Jack asks. 

She laughs nervously, “Just a feeling”

“ _ Two talon operatives at the front door, 76. _ ” Tracer’s voice crackles across the coms.

Jack falls alongside a unit and Angela follows, breathing labored as their eyes meet. Safehouse confirmed, Jack thinks wryly. As if the scared citizens weren’t proof enough. He releases the safety on his rifle, “Any more?”

“ _ Three along the docks. _ ” Lucio confirms.

“ _ Another three walking the perimeter.”  _ Tracer replies. 

“Damn. Eight total outside.” Angela hisses, “We’re too exposed, 76.”

“Agreed.” Jack nods, “Regroup in the alley.”

_ “SHIT! _ ” Tracer yelps and gunfire erupts from further ahead. Jack inhales in irritation, because of fucking course, now would be the time they were spotted.

“Report.” Jack snaps.

“ _ Two on the roof the warehouse. They spotted me.”  _ He can hear her zipping across the roof, avoiding the guns firing from the adjacent roof top.

“ _ Widowmaker on the roof!” _ Lucio calls out. 

Jack glances to Angela, who has that ‘I told you so’ look on her face that he absolutely loathes. He can hear the Talon operatives shouting to each other, some in other languages, some in english. 

“If the Widowmaker is here, then so is Reaper.” Angela whispers, “We need to fall back.”

“ _ Lucio! If I can see ya, so can she! Get behind the containers!”  _ Tracer yelps and Jack glances up just as she jerks across the roof next to where they’re hiding. She doesn’t look at them or give them away, just slips down into the alley where they first emerged from. 

Jack point to Angela, “Mercy, get to Tracer, make sure she’s not injured.”

Angela nods once and sprints for the alley, weaving between containers to hide the glow of her wings. Jack hears Lucio skate up behind his container, “What now, boss man?”

Jack grunts, “Follow Mercy.”

“But-.”

“ _ Go. _ ” Jack snarls, “If I’m not at the rendezvous point in an hour, leave me.”

He hears Lucio hesitate before a weak, “Got it.” is returned. He watches Lucio skate in Mercy and Tracer’s direction and Jack hopes they get there safely. 

The itch under Jack’s skin turns into a slow burn, sizzling along his spine and sending goosebumps across his arms. He can hear the running footsteps of the enemy operatives coming his way. Another sound accompanies the footsteps, something like a tornado or whistling wind. Then, the distinct sound of boots on concrete stops them in their tracks, feet away from Jack’s hiding place

“76 is mine. Find the others.” Reaper’s voice isn’t hard to recognize. Jack’s heard it multiple times over coms and through Holovids of Overwatch fights. He’s never met him in person, however. 

That changes as the footsteps fade away and the boots edge closer. Jack watches through his visor as black coat and kevlar rounds the corner of his container, twin shotguns in each hand. The mask Reaper wears is white and oblong, depicting a predatory bird. 

“The infamous Soldier seventy-six.” Reaper chuckles darkly, waving a shotgun as if it were weightless, “What a pleasure.”

“Can’t say I feel the same.” Jack pulls his gun closer to his chest, ready to protect the vital parts from the devastation of a shotgun blast. Reaper gets steadily closer and the burn under Jack’s skin skyrockets, danger tingling at the base of his neck. 

Reaper stops in front of him, leveling a shotgun at Jack’s head. 

Jack stares down the barrel knowing his team won’t get to him in time. He fights the natural instinct to beg, kneel, roll over. He’s too old for his hormones to reign supreme anymore and he jerks his chin out, “You don’t seem like the type to hesitate.”

 

-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


He isn’t the type to hesitate. 

His one gleaming quality is shoot first and eat after. He doesn’t need information from mouth, he can get it elsewhere. 

It’s the  _ smell  _ that stops him. 

He didn’t realize he even could scent anymore, what with how his body changed on a near constant basis. Scents always blended or disappeared for days or weeks at a time and he hasn’t needed to scent anyone is years.

_ Feels like decades. _

The scent is honey over ice cream, salt water stuck to slick flesh, the chill of ice on the tongue. He inhales it like he’s starving and part of him is. His gut roils with hunger, instincts thought long gone rearing up with a nose in the air, panting like a dog.  _ Howling.  _

He’d know that scent anywhere. He’d know it in a fucking thunderstorm. 

The shotgun in his hands slips into black smoke as he slinks closer to the scent. It beckons him, eggs him on. The pulse rifle pushes into the flesh of his stomach and he is forcibly stopped.  The man in front of him should be a ghost, long dead, six feet under. 

That scent says otherwise. 

“You’re in heat.” He rumbles, pushing against the rifle, begging to be closer. 

76, no,  _ Jack _ stiffens, shoulders going taunt and leather gloves clenching tight around the rifle. This close, the scent is stronger, so strong it makes his head spin. His mouth is watering and his body, despite the decay and smoke, is  _ burning _ . He growls low in his chest, leaning his head forward to drink in more of it. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Jack hisses, “How can you tell? No one can tell.”

He laughs softly, “Oh  _ cariño. _ I know that smell.” He puts one of his hands against Jack’s neck, talon tugging at the collar of the jacket to move it down. A black body suit is blocking his way, but he slices it with ease, nicking the flesh. A light well of blood hits the surface of Jack’s pale skin just as he reveals the bite placed perfectly at the junction of neck and shoulder. 

Jack’s chest hitches so violently, he’s wondering if the man stops breathing altogether. He can’t see through the orange tint of the famous visor, but he can almost remember the blue Jack’s eyes were. So blue, so endless, so eager looking up at him from the throws of every heat. Fifteen years of that glorious blue, only to end in rage and fire. 

“No.” Jack stutters, “No.” He sounds firmer this time, as if trying to convince himself this isn’t real. “ _ No. _ ”

Gabe uses his other hand to push the rifle down, down, to where it hangs limp at Jack’s side. The sharp points of his talons slip back into blunt fingers as he glides them over the bite mark. He presses his chest to Jack’s and the omega melts between the container and his body. Jack’s scent gets stronger, heavier, as he slips the mask up and over his head. He fingers Jack’s own mask for a moment.

“Gonna let me see those eyes, Jackie?”  He murmurs.

A low, sub-verbal whine vibrates between them as the man behind the mask takes his appearance in. 

Gabriel knows what he looks like. He is mottled flesh, pale spots, death personified. He is far from the gleaming Alpha Jack mated all those years ago. He can’t tell if the whine is from horror or if Jack is sharing the same overwhelming feeling of  _ yes, finally, I missed you _ that Gabe is. He finds the latch on Jack’s visor and it falls to the ground with an audible clack.

Jack’s eyes aren’t blue anymore.

Gabriel lets the mutated sound of sadness escape his throat as he runs his fingers over the scar that runs down Jack’s face. His fingers press beneath the milky eyes and they watch him with caution. 

“You’re not him.” Jack’s voice is wretched, a broken thing that shatters between them. 

Gabriel cups his face between his smoking hands, “How can you say that? Look at me, Jack.”

“I can’t.” Jack whispers, “Your voice is his, but you’re not.”

Gabriel growls low in his chest, “Want me to prove it?” He brings his mouth to Jack’s ear and can feel the shiver that racks the other man’s body, “I could take you right here, right now. Make you mine again.”

Jack’s laugh is dark and hollow, “You say that like I  _ stopped _ being yours.”

Gabriel pauses, rubbing his thumbs along Jack’s jaw, taking in the face he’s been dreaming about for so long. So many times he’d woken to Jack, his face burned into his memory after years of tracing every feature. Now, this man was back from the dead, hell they both were, and Jack is caught between denying it and letting Gabriel take him on a dirty dock in the middle of the night. 

He moves one of his hands down to caress the mating mark again, “You didn’t take another Alpha?” His question is quiet, non-threatening, even though his instincts snarl at the thought of  _ his _ mate belonging to another alpha.

“Why would I?” Jack snaps, “You were  _ it _ , Gabe. I was going to-.” Jack jerks his head away and Gabriel frowns, inner alpha offended that despite the heat rolling off of Jack’s body, the man was still rejecting him. “I was going to spend the rest of my life with you.” Jack finally croaks.

Gabriel drops his hands, “This wasn’t just my fault, Jack.”

Jack hisses, “At least I didn’t pick the wrong side.”

Gabe wraps his fingers around Jack’s neck and shoves his head back against the container, “I gave you a chance to listen to me and you  _ didn’t _ . You let your pride and your  _ image _ seperate us, Jack.” Jack’s face twists in agony, “You gave everything we had up.  _ You _ did this!” 

Gabriel can feel the anger boiling again inside him, chest heaving as his fingers bleed into talons. He wants to tear Jack apart, honey sweet scent be damned. Jack ruined everything. Jack threw their mating away for his  _ image _ . 

“You think I don’t know this?” Jack whispers and his scent changes. The heat is still there, but that sadness, that blood on snow scent that Jack carries when he hurts permeates the air around them, “I have spent every heat  _ aching _ for you. Knowing you were dead. I never took another because that would take away the punishment of losing you. I deserved to be in agony, alone and miserable for every cycle since I lost you.” 

He can feel Jack swallow beneath the smoking skin of his hand, tight with emotion as his scent flares in pain, “I deserve death for what I let happen. I’m just too much of a coward to end it properly.” 

And thank whatever deity that Jack never did. Gabe eases his grip, watching Jack’s face for a few loaded moments. Age has been both kind and cruel to Jack, to them both. They had been old before the crisis, but this was a new kind of age. The kind that came with heavy weight and loss, burdens neither of them needed to bear for so long. 

“I have missed you every day since you told me to leave.” Jack mutters, “When you threw me out of your room and denounced me as your mate...I-.” Those milky eyes cast sideways and Gabriel sees the tears gathering at the edges, “I have been waiting for death, just so I could see you again and beg you to take me back.”

His talons return to fingers and he strokes Jack’s throat with his thumb, watching him patiently. Jack’s eyes look distant and he refuses to meet Gabriel’s gaze. Gabe grasps his chin and jerks his face forward, “Look at me,  _ mi luna _ .” 

“I  _ can’t _ .” Jack croaks.

“Then show me how you see.” Gabriel says. 

The rifle hits the ground with a thud and Jack’s hands reach up to touch Gabriel’s face. He lets him, pale fingers tracing the smoking edges and mottled, rotten flesh. The fingers graze his beard and Jack’s lips twist in a shadow of his old smile. Fingers ghost over his eyelids, his brows, and tug at the shells of his ears, then across his jawline. 

“You look the same.” Jack sighs happily.

Something twists in Gabriel’s chest, “No. I don’t.” He chuckles darkly, “You put your visor back on and see me for what I really am up close, Jack.” 

Jack’s fingers glide down his throat and his pulse flutters, “I need to go.”

_ No _ , his instincts scream,  _ hold him here. Take him! _

“I shouldn’t even let you leave here alive.” Gabriel growls, “Any of you.”

“But you will.” Jack whispers, “Won’t you, Gabriel?”

Jack’s right. Of course he is, he always was. Despite the anger and the resentment that caused such a rift between them, Jack always knew how to call Gabriel out on his bluff. No alpha should  _ ever _ harm their mate. 

His eyes dart the mark at Jack neck, longing swirling in his gut at the realization that he won’t get to reclaim what is his. Won’t get to sink into Jack’s honey drenched scent and forget about the fucked up world they wound up in. His finger grazes the mark one last time and with a hard swallow, he takes a step back. 

Jack’s sightless eyes are still on him as Gabe’s hands fall to his sides, leaving Jack’s still trying to hold onto him. A low whine erupts in Jack’s chest and he darts forward, colliding with Gabe’s chest again.

Jack kisses him.

On a dirty dock, in the middle of the night, with talon operatives crawling to find the other Overwatch members, Jack kisses him like it’s their last chance. His mouth is open to Gabriel’s hunger and his hands grasp at Jack’s face, angling him to fully capture his lips. He tastes like his heat-scent, bitter and sweet and like a memory he can’t quite reach. 

Jack is the one to pull away as well, bending to grab his visor and his rifle and transforming himself back into his 76 persona. Gone is Gabriel’s beautiful omega mate. In his place is the soldier, the vigilante, the  _ enemy _ .

His heart howls in sadness. He  _ aches _ .

The visor locks back into place and Jack adjusts his jacket to cover the torn bodysuit. Gabriel tries to yank his mask down before Jack can really see the destroyed lines of his face, but he knows it’s too late. 

They stare at each other and the few feet between them feels like miles. 

“ _ Sigues siendo mi mundo _ .”

Jack laughs softly, “My next heat is in three months.” He cocks his head to the side and Gabriel can not see the mark, but he knows it’s being offered, “Find me then,  _ alpha. _ ”

It’s a challenge. It’s a promise of  _ something _ . An echo of what they once shared, perhaps. 

He closes his eyes behind his mask and when he opens them, Jack is gone. 

  
  
TBC  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise there will be ooey, gooey mating goodness in the next chapter. 
> 
> _Sigues siendo mi mundo_ \- You are still my entire world.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never break my promises. I promised porn. I deliver. 
> 
> Also, I almost wrote this with three days of no sleep and everyone told me to go the fuck to sleep. So I did. I'm glad I did.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _Enjoy_

**Part Two**

 

“I need you for a intel mission.”

They are the bittersweetest words Jack’s heard in a long time. He watches Winston from behind his visor as the gorilla shuffles awkwardly in front of him. ‘Intel mission’ is usually code for ‘your heat is near and we need you to loosen a tongue or two’. No one likes handing Jack these missions, Sataya hisses that it’s basically prostitution. Angela always looks vaguely uncomfortable and fidgets in her seat.

“Am I going alone?” Jack asks.

“I’ll be there.” Lucio waves, “Not….uh….where you will be, but in case things get hairy and you need a hand.”

Jack tries to stifle the disappointment. He had hoped to sneak away during this heat to see Gabriel. Not that he had high hopes of his former Alpha even bothering to look for him, but the disappointment still stung.

“Who is it?” Jack reaches forward to pick the file from the meeting table. The picture of a middle-aged man dressed in a three piece suit is clipped to the front. Jack recognizes him as a former Mech manufacturer. The file is barren, save for basic information such as birth, hair color, weight, and blood type.

“He is supposedly helping Talon.” Winston clears his throat, “We want you to find out how much he knows about them and if he knows what their endgame is.”

Jack frowns, “This is something Hana can’t just hack into, I assume.”

“You don’t have to go.” Angela interrupts, “Heats are already uncomfortable enough.”

Jack shakes his head, “It’s better than being holed up the entire time.” He shakes the file at Winston, “Bodyguards?”

Winston grunts, “Talon thugs, easy for you.”

“Then I’ll do it.”

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

Lucio keeps shooting him looks as they ride to the drop point. Jack gives nothing in his body language to encourage the young man to talk. He instead tries to concentrate on the swirling burn coiling at the base of his spine. If he wants to use his heat to get the alpha target to talk, then he needs to focus on ramping it up.

It used to be extremely difficult to ramp up his heat, with a dead mate and no one to assist, he relied on sheer luck. Now, he could think of Gabriel. Gabriel who is _alive_ somewhere out there and had recognized Jack just buy his _heat scent._ It was a heady feeling and he could feel his body's response just thinking of his alpha.

His alpha.

Was he allowed to call him that again?

“Is Reaper your mate?”

Jack jerks his head around to stare down at Lucio, who isn’t angry, mostly curious. “He was.” Jack feels is a safe reply.

“Explains why he let us go then.” Lucio nods, “Did you two...sort out your stuff?”

‘Stuff’ being Jack’s heat, he assumes, “No. The battlefield is no place for fornication.”

Lucio wrinkles his nose, “Wow. _Wow._ Fornication, really?”

Jack chuckles, “I’m old, remember?”

“Yea _riiiiight_.” Lucio rolls his eyes, “I’ve seen how you fight, 76.”

“I’ve had a lot of training.” Jack hedges. Not many of the new Overwatch members knew about the S.E.P. Jack and Gabriel were special cases. Lucio didn’t need to know he was running on fumes, either.

“So this Reaper character, he a bad guy?”

“You tell me.” Jack shrugs.

Lucio eyes him skeptically, “He’s working for Talon, but Hana says he’s a merc.”

“Hana needs to stay out of Winston’s secure files.” Jack grumbles.

“Well, if his passwords weren’t _peanut butter_ ,” Lucio laughs.

The same pilot as the last mission shouts from the front, “Landing, boys.”

“Got it.” Jack stands and heads for the door. He sheds his jacket, leaving the black bodysuit and cargo pants. His visor is next and he sets it into Lucio’s capable hands. Going in mostly blind is a bad, bad idea, but he can’t go into hostile territory looking like the enemy either

Lucio hovers by the door as Jack steps off. “Good luck.”

Jack sends him a short wave and starts walking.

It takes him about ten minutes to walk to the building where his target is staying. The hotel is fancy, taller than the ones surrounding it, and is mostly window. Jack winces inwardly at how exposed the rooms must be as he slinks down the alley beside the hotel in search of an access stairway.

He doesn’t find any stairs, but does find a door that leads to an industrial laundry room. It’s surprisingly empty and it doesn’t take long for Jack to find another door that leads to the rest of the hotel. The halls are a bright maroon, with gold weaved carpets and paintings that probably cost as much as a one night stay.

The empty hall doesn’t last long as a small woman pushing a cart rounds a corner just after he finds a main hallway. She gives him a toothy grin, “Enjoying your stay, sir?”

“Yes ma’am.” Jack nods and they pass without further exchange.

He mentally scans the intel Winston had given him. Tenth floor, room 1045, here’s a copy of the key. Jack checks his back pocket for it one more time as he enters an elevator with what looks to be a drunk couple and an elderly businessman.

The drunk couple stagger off at the sixth floor and the other man nods at him as Jack exits onto the tenth. This hallway is empty as well, but it’s of beige design, less harsh on Jack’s poor vision. He runs his hands along the walls, feeling each set of numbers as he passes, searching for the right one.

When he arrives, he pulls the key out of his pocket and twirls it between his fingers. The room, as far as he can tell, is quiet. It means the target is out temporarily, giving Jack plenty of time to set up his interrogation.

The door hisses after he swipes the card. It opens into a small suite decorated in muted blues, with a large bed to the left and a moderate bathroom to the right. The entire wall opposite him is glass, sheer blue curtains barely keeping the city lights contained.

A keypad to the left of the door chirps ‘Welcome Back, sir’ in a mechanical female voice. He glances at it, wondering for a second if the rooms required DNA authorization to enter. The pad speaks no more as he travels further inside.

There’s a suitcase on the dresser below where the TV is hanging, open and with a few clothes scattered around it.

His heat is a slow simmer in his gut, itching under his skin as he stares down at the suitcase. It feels like a betrayal, using his biology to seduce another alpha. He sniffs the air for a second, attempting to gauge the other alphas scent.

Warning bells go off when the scent is only cologne. _Just_ cologne.

A set up.

 _Fuck_.

He spins around to head for the door, no weapon, no jacket, all of his things back on the carrier with Lucio.

Raucous laughter erupts from the keypad by the door and it flashes purple. A white skull flickers across the screen and Jack can hear the click of the deadbolt falling into place.

Double fuck.

“You owe me one, _Gabriel_ .” A woman’s voice that is _not_ the same as before tsks from the keypad.

Jack is contemplating a ten story jump through the glass windows when the bolt clicks and the door opens just enough for a stream of black smoke to slither through. He can’t stop his body from flaring as Gabriel takes form in front of him. Every instinct he has is telling him to throw himself at Gabriel and offer his neck.

Jack can’t tell what Gabe looks like at their current distance, but he knows the mask isn’t there and neither is the coat and kevlar ensemble.

Gabriel moves closer, as if gliding across the carpet, a low, distinct growl filling between them, “Fancy meeting you here,  Jack.”

Jack snorts, standing his ground, “I have a feeling you knew I would be.” His body is begging him. The heat is clawing at his control. _That’s your mate!_ He knows. He _knows_.

“Did you seriously think I was going to allow you to..” Gabriel snarls low as he comes to a stop in front of Jack, “ _Sleep_ with another Alpha?”

Jack tilts his head, baring the part of his neck that was not marked, “It’s my job.”

Gabriels hand flies out and wraps around Jack’s neck, talons cutting into the flesh, “You do not give out freely what is _mine_.”

“You denounced me.” Jack scoffs, “Our mark is the only thing that ties us.”

Gabriel hisses and even blind Jack can see the smoke erupt from his mouth, curling around Jack like a storm cloud. The anger has its own scent and Gabe’s possessiveness smells like cedar wood.  It swarms Jack’s senses like a contact high, stirring the heat in his belly and for the first time in _years_ , Jack’s body responds with sex. He can feel the slick leaking down his inner thigh and his eyes flutter closed, chest heaving as he inhales more of Gabe’s scent.

A soft, dark chuckle erupts from the wraith in front of him, taloned hand slipping away from Jack’s neck and cutting open the body suit down the middle.

“You smell like heaven, Jack.” Gabe’s voice is a sensual rumble, “You blossom beautifully for me.” The talons bleed into fingertips as they push the suit material down Jack’s arms. “You always did.”

“ _Gabe_.” Jack should be ashamed of the way his whines the name, but he can’t find it in him to care. He’s already blown his mission. His heat is reacting properly for the first time since Gabriel snarled and sent him away. So many wasted years.

Gabriel’s fingers find his face, “Are you sure about this, _cariño?_ ”

The question startles Jack and he opens his eyes to peer up at him. Gabriel’s face is blurry, but Jack can see the hesitation, smell it along with Gabriel’s arousal.

He really shouldn’t do this. He should tell Gabe _No_ and walk out of here and back to the carrier. To Lucio and Angela and Overwatch. He shouldn’t be crossing enemy lines.

He shouldn’t.

Jack presses his mouth to Gabe’s and sighs out a ‘yes.’

 

-0-0-0-0-0-

 

Gabe smelt Jack’s honey drenched scent long before he’d arrived at the room. Jack had left a trail of it from the first floor all the way up to the tenth. His body burned with arousal and anger as he followed it, waiting patiently for Sombra to hack the hotels security system.

His anger was a potent thing as he spotted Jack standing in another alphas room, ready to do what he _must_ for the good of Overwatch.

But now, now Jack’s scent is leaking from him, filling Gabe’s head and sending his regenerating body into a frenzy. He can barely hold his form as Jack whispers _yes_ against his lips.

He pushes Jack towards the bed and the blond goes willingly, falling back against the sheets and toeing off his boots. Gabe makes quick work of his own shoes, yanking his shirt from his body and reaching down to unbuckle the belt on Jack’s pants. The cargos come off and Jack’s intoxicating scent hits him like a punch. He groans into the skin of Jack’s thigh, mouthing gently and pulling the pants the rest of the way off.

Jack chuckles from above, a hand brushing against his head.

Gabe bites into the muscle, making Jack hiss and the hand tighten into his hair. Jack’s boxers come off next and the scent is stronger, slick stuck to his inner thigh as the material slides away. Gabriel is a greedy man, so he wastes no time in pushing Jack’s leg up and over his shoulder so he can lick up what the boxers left behind. The taste explodes across his tongue, another trait he thought he’d lost. It’s not as sweet as it once was, when they were young and eager boys, Jack is older and now he tastes like well-aged wine.

He follows the trail to Jack’s leaking hole, nosing behind his balls and tongue laving at the juices. Jack howls, fingers yanking at the roots of Gabe’s hair, thighs tense around his head. Straight from the source it’s even better and Gabriel rumbles approvingly against the furled hole.

His dick is straining inside his own pants, eagerly awaiting its reunion with Jack. The throb would be unbearable if he wasn’t already enjoying Jack’s throaty keens and shaking thighs. The taste of him is an even bigger distraction, but he unbuttons his pants and slips his cock out to give it some attention. A few hearty strokes has him moaning against Jack, lapping up more of the leaking juices every time Jack jerks in pleasure.

“Gabe….Gabriel…” Jack sighs above him and now his hands are grabbing eagerly at Gabe’s shoulders, trying to drag him away.

He doesn’t ever want to leave. He’s been dreaming of getting between Jack’s thighs again for months.

He sighs heavily and obliges, giving Jack’s hole one final lick and finishing up his balls to the tip of his cock. Jack whines at him and Gabriel smirks while wrapping a hand around Jack’s straining erection. He gives it a few tight strokes before sliding his body along Jack’s so he can reach the omegas mouth.

Jack moans when their tongues meet, tasting himself and _loving_ it. The omega grasps blindly at Gabriel’s skin, running gun worn hands over his arms and chest and pecs. Gabriel rumbles happily at the treatment and jerks out a soft sigh when Jack’s fingers wrap around his jutting cock. Jack’s strokes are sure and confident, just as they always have been. Gabe didn’t realize how much he missed them until they were wrapped around him.

“Oh, Jack.  _Nunca me cansaré de tu olor._ ” He murmurs against Jack’s lips.

Jack stutters under him, mouth opening for another kiss. He busies his hands over Jack’s skin, sinking nails into flesh and scraping down his ribcage. Jack pushes into it, head tossing against the mattress. His strokes never falter, keeping Gabriel on the knife edge of orgasm. A dangerous territory to be in when you have a gorgeous omega in heat beneath you.

“Slow, _mi amor._ ” Gabriel says into his neck.

Jack growls under him, chest vibrating against Gabe’s, “ _No._ I’ve been waiting.”

Gabriel chuckles, “So impatient.”

“Just fuck me.” Jack snarls.

Gabriel jerks back at the command, eyes narrowing down at his spitfire omega. Jack was a golden boy to the core and he only ever fought with Gabe. He fought dirty too. He snatches Jack’s hand from his dick and slams it behind Jack’s head. His other hand wraps tight around that pale throat and Gabriel growls down at him, “You don’t tell me what to do.”

Jack sneers, licking his lips, “ _Fuck. Me. Now_.”

He wants to resist, snarl and snap and show his teeth at the defiant man beneath him. He can’t. Jack’s scent spikes, iced honey drenching the sheets under them and causing a feral moan to erupt from Gabe’s chest.

Jack crows in victory as Gabriel drops back between his legs, pushing them out by his thighs and lining his cock up. He bites at Jack’s ankles in warning, watching the man’s chest heave in anticipation. Milky blue eyes meet his across the space between them and Gabe sinks into slick, tight heat.

He _howls_.

Jack’s satisfied moan is drawn out and breathy, eyes wide as Gabe buries himself to the hilt. He pulls back, the drag wet and warm, then slams back in, sending Jack’s back into a painful arch. His fingers bleed smoke as he holds tight to Jack’s pale thighs, hips slapping against Jack’s ass.

Everything is too much and not enough all at once. He can feel the burn of his orgasm just beyond reach and Jack screams under him, cock spraying white across his chest as the first orgasm grips him. Jack’s hands scramble down to pull at Gabe’s hips, urging him to keep going.

“Faster. Again!” Jack hisses.

Gabriel doesn’t have time to argue the order, just continues to slam in and out, slick leaking around him and the sound like music to his ears. He watches Jack’s head tilt to the side, faded mark a reminder of what used to be his. It contrasts against Jack’s sweaty skin, calling out to him as his hips continue to push into Jack. His mouth waters at the sight and the burn of his orgasm is _right there._

His fingers tighten into Jack’s skin as he tries to tear his eyes from what is not his. Jack is not _his_ anymore. He pumps his hips faster, wrapping a hand around Jack’s still hard cock. Jack looks at him again and Gabriel suddenly misses the bright, endless blue of his eyes. They stare at each other as Gabriel tries to bring them both off together, hips pounding, everything throbbing, Jack’s scent poisoning the air around them.

All Jack does is tip his head to the side again, neck offered in the most primal of ways. His hole gushes with slick around Gabe’s cock and the smell of the sex is so concentrated it makes Gabriel _hungry_.

“Bite me, Gabriel.” Jack groans, “We’ve waited long enough.”

He doesn’t need to be told again. He slams into Jack, leaning over him, teeth bared and instincts screaming. Jack keens in anticipation, arms wrapping around Gabriel’s back to pull him down against his chest. He sinks his teeth right over the old mark, body humming in feral joy as he feels his knot expand, priming him for his first orgasm in years.

Jack shouts under him, nails digging into the skin of Gabe’s back, and he feels another orgasm coat both of their stomachs.

It doesn’t take Gabe long before his knot catches and the orgasm sluices through him like a shot of tequila. It _burns_ through him, muscles tight and teeth locked against Jack’s throat. He lets out a long, growled moan as he empties himself inside his mate.

His mate.

_His Jack._

  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  


It takes almost three rounds before the two of them are sated. Jack’s body is a wreck, covered in come and his neck is still bleeding, but god _damn_ does he feel good. His bones ache and his skin is still burning despite the air conditioner blowing at full capacity.

He’s hasn’t felt this good since…..

His face twists up at the memory of Gabriel throwing him out of their room.

“Why the sad face, _cariño?_ ” Gabriel emerges from the bathroom, still naked and holding something, probably a washcloth.

Jack sighs heavily, watching him, “This was too short.”

The bed dips as Gabriel climbs back in. Jack jerks as the cold cloth wipes across the sensitive skin of his stomach.

“Doesn’t have to be.” Gabriel grunts.

“You know it does.” Jack mutters, “With the life I live, Overwatch verses Talon. I’m not guaranteed.”

He can feel Gabriel bristle beside him, cloth going still mid-swipe, “You looking to die sometime soon?”

“I’m old Gabe.” He casts his eyes to the ceiling, “I’m old and worn. You….you’re dead, but you’ll still be here once I’m gone.”

Gabriel abandons the cloth and Jack gasps as the retreating hand grabs his chin and jerks him to meet angry black eyes. “Don’t you _dare_ .” Gabe’s mouth is like a brand as he kisses Jack, possessive and a warning. “You go. I go. _Comprende?_ ”

“Together or not at all.” Jack whispers.

The words had been passed to his flesh the first time they mated. The first time Gabriel made Jack his omega, the words had felt seared into his skin. They had been so young, so in _love_. The idea of them being enemies had been foolish at the time.

Jack can feel his chest burning at the memory, emotions still high from his heat, “I’m a breath to you, Gabriel. A _second_ in the span of your  _millennia_. Yet you’ve always loved me as if _you_ would be gone tomorrow.” He swallows back the tears, “Would you take another-?”

Gabriel presses their foreheads together, face twisted in agony, “I have no need of anyone but you.”

Jack lets a low whine rattle his chest, sagging in relief, “Then we should make the most of the time we have left.”

Much later, when his body is too tired to function and he feels himself falling asleep, he knows Gabriel is leaving. They can’t be seen together. Jack knows this.

He fights to stay awake as Gabriel leans over him, smoking fingers brushing his cheek. The touch is so tender it breaks Jack’s heart.

Gabriel presses a kiss to his mouth, “Until we meet again, _mis milenios_.”

 

**end**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have reached the end.  
> I haven't written much in present OW, I'm an AU writer most of the time, but damn this was fun. 
> 
> Also. I have been waiting _two years_ to use the quote on my blog description. It has been sitting in limbo until this very ship walked into my life. 
> 
> _Nunca me cansaré de tu olor_ \- I never grow tired of your scent  
>  _mis milenios_ \- My millenia
> 
> Thank you for all the comments, kudos, and support! 
> 
> You can follow me on Tumbr here: [gabrielsthighz](http://gabrielsthighz.tumblr.com/)


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories can be both poison and a cure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be complete, but sometimes the idea comes and I have no control. Especially when it comes to these two angsty dads who have officially ruined my life. 
> 
>  
> 
> _Enjoy_

  
**Part Three**

 

_ “To be fair-.” Gabe begins with a grin over his coffee mug, “You reek of me.” _

_ Jack buries his face in his hands, shoulders slumped and red skin peeking around his fingers. “God, please stop talking.” He feels as if the entire lunch room is staring at him and they  _ **_know_ ** _ that he spent ninety percent of his night wrapped up in Gabriel’s bed. The other ten percent had been in the shower cleaning up four rounds worth of bodily fluids before curling around each other in bed.  _

_ Gabriel chuckles lightly and sips at his coffee, taking in the beet red omega seated across from him. Jack rubs his hands over his face and down his neck, scowling at the snickering man. “I’m glad you find this funny.” _

_ “Hey.” Gabe raises his mug in defense, “You came to me with those doe eyes and said ‘Gabriel’” He rolls the ‘R’ in his name dramatically, “I  _ **_need_ ** _ you, so bad, my body aches!” His ‘Jack’ voice makes Jack himself burst out in laughter and toss a lump of scrambled egg at him. _

_ “I did not say that!”  _

_ “Might as well have.” Gabe shrugs. _

_ “That’s not what happened.” Jack sneers. _

_ Gabe grins, “Nope. I laid a brilliant pick up line on you and you went all gooey.”  _

_ Jack spears his eggs with a fork and rolls his eyes, “The pick up line ‘want some spanish in you’ is not gooifying, Gabe.” _

_ “Got you in my bed, didn’t it, cariño?”  _

_ Jack tucks his head sheepishly, “That’s because I wanted to be in your bed.”  _

_ When Gabe doesn’t say anything, Jack glances up, and Gabe is staring at him. His head is tilted to the right and he’s watchin Jack with a curious expression. He looks so handsome. Jack’s stomach clenches in hunger at the sight of him, beanie covering curly, close cut hair, the perfectly trimmed beard. He remembers it brushing rough and sensual against the sensitive skin of his thighs.  _

_ “Want to be in it again?” Gabriel’s voice is low, a soft, sexy promise that sets the fire already smoldering to a blazing roar. _

 

The bump of the transport jolts Jack awake. He tips his chin down and stares around him, eyes bleary from sleep. Lucio is sitting beside him, fidgeting with a phone and looking rather nervous for a ride home. 

He tries to shake himself out of the fuzzy memory and take stock of his surroundings again. Lucio. The pilot cozy in the front. His neck and lower back ache, but he feels more relaxed than he has in years. His mask is laying on a table across from them, along with all of his utility belts and the pulse rifle. 

He frowns, “How long have I been out?”

Lucio startles and glances up, “You’re awake!”

Jack lifts an eyebrow, “How long have I been out?” He repeats.

“Bout…” Lucio checks his phone, “Five hours. We’re thirty minutes out. Man, I am so glad you’re awake before we get there.” He looks a cross between amused and nervous. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to tell them I found you passed out in the hotel.”

Jack winces. He probably hadn’t been cleaned or anything-

“Your neck is swollen….want me to look at it?” Lucio offers, “That was the only odd thing I found.”

A wave of nostalgia rolls over Jack at the thought of Gabe cleaning him up before departing. He smiles slightly at the thought and shakes his head at Lucio, “Even if you did, there wouldn’t be anything your music could do.”

Lucio’s eye widen slowly, “ _ Oh _ .” His voice lowers to a whisper, “Did you handle your ‘stuff’?” 

Jack chuckles, “Yes, I handled it.”

Lucio slumps back with a sigh, “Oh good! I was really worried you were gonna have to sleep with that alpha prick from the file.”

“It was a setup.” Jack shrugs one shoulder. 

“I’m a little uncomfortable enabling your secret trysts with the merc,” Lucio grins, “But you look relaxed, 76.”

“I feel it.” Jack tips his head back, “Been a while.”

Lucio whistles, “Oh I bet.”

Jack shoots him an unimpressed look, “No need to be insulting.”

“Sorry.” Lucio manages to look sheepish now, “But you’re good right? I mean, isn’t Reaper dead? That won’t get infected?” He points to the bite mark that Jack knows is red and puffy at his neck. 

Jack shakes his head, “No. This is normal.”

Lucio nods, “Okay.”

“Ten minutes till landing, boys.” The pilot waves, “Mum’s still the word, Lucio?”

“Yep.” Lucio replies, “All they need to know is the dude never showed up.”

The pilot finger guns, “You got it.” 

Jack lets his body sink into the chair he’s seated in and listens to the pilot and Lucio talk. He thinks of the memory fresh in his mind. They had been only six months into the program when Gabe cornered Jack after combat training. Jack remembers Gabe had smelt like the soap from his shower and woodsy, smokey pheromones. The smell had weaved him forward, despite his entire mantra during the first weeks being ‘do not sleep with the handsome alpha’. Gabe had a voice that could send shivers down your spine and make you melt into the floor when he put his mind to it.

And yes, the ‘do you want some spanish in you’ pick up like had gained Gabriel a sharp laugh and a kiss. 

Jack sighs and beats his head back against the metal wall of the transport. No use in getting caught up in old memories, they’re dust now. Just dust and an echo of what Jack used to be. 

As the transport lands, Lucio hands him his jacket and a black turtleneck bodysuit to cover the bite. He changes quickly, fingers brushing the fresh mark longingly before putting it out of sight. 

McCree greets them with a hearty wave from his chair by the overlook, cigar smoking in one hand and glass of whiskey in the other. Hanzo is seated on a container a few feet away, probably meditating. 

Winston is pacing furiously near the entrance to the watchpoint, Mercy standing beside him, arms crossed over her chest.

Jack and Lucio exchange a worried look before walking forward to meet them.

“Welcome back.” Mercy smiles, “How did it go?”

Lucio shrugs, “He never showed up!” He waves his hands around, explaining how Jack had given him a call as soon as he reached the hotel. The tale he spins is impressive and Jack cuts in here and there to fill in the blanks from his side. 

“The room didn’t smell like an alpha.” Jack states, “No pheromones, it was probably a setup.”

“Then why did no one show?” Winston frowns.

“I sat for a few hours, set up for interrogation.” Jack had every intention of doing just that until Gabriel swooped in and melted his bones. “They never showed. We called it a bust after five hours.”

Winston nods, “You can both do a full report tonight. It’s late.” The gorilla turns and leaves, doors shutting with a snap behind him.

Mercy is still staring at them, nose wrinkled, “Where is your heat?” 

Jack bristles, “Gone already.”  _ Damn _ .

Her frown redoubles, “Gone? Do you need a check up? It still should be-.” He winces away when she goes to touch him and her fingers slip down his arm.

“I’m old, Ang. It’s happened before.”

It’s a weak excuse and she knows it, judging by the hard stare she turns on him. When she disappears behind Winston, Jack lets out a huff of air and Lucio gives him a sympathetic smile. Jack manages a weak smile in return. 

“Get some rest, big guy.” Lucio pats him on the back, “You know where to find me if you need me.” He nods to Jack’s neck and follows the other two Overwatch members into the watchpoint. 

Jack lets out a sigh, returns Jesse’s wave, and goes back to the ship to get his visor and rifle. He makes it to his room with a bowl of curry and two water bottles under his left arm twenty minutes later. Hana had handed him the bowl of food and promised to bring more later. 

She didn’t disappoint, because no sooner did he finish his first bowl, she was already knocking and juggling two larger bowls. 

“Lucio suggested I bring you more than your usual binge.” She grins at him from his doorway. 

He doesn’t bother getting up from his bed, just allows her into his space so she can set the bowls on the table next to him.

“Tell him thank you.” Jack mumbles, handing her the empty one and grabbing another. He digs in, stomach crying out for calories. 

“He already said not to mention it.” She winks, “But I’ll bring you some other goodies later. Some sweets.” She gets to the door and sends a parting wave, “I know you supersoldiers tire each other out.”

He chokes on his bite of curry as the door shuts behind her and curses. 

These new kids are too nosey for their own good, he thinks to himself. He polishes off the last two bowls of curry and chugs the water before crawling under the covers. 

Sleep doesn’t normally come easily to him anymore, old age and nightmares mixed together with the serum pumping through his veins. However, he feels like he could pass out and sleep for days after his meeting with Gabe. It’s been a long time since he’s had heat sex good enough to wear him out. 

The last time had been with Gabriel as well.

The night before-

He shakes his head against the pillow and scrunches his eyes closed.

No.

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

_ Soft spanish rumbles against the sweaty skin of his chest is what Jack comes down to. The aftermath of the orgasm is a brilliant hum through his body. His hips are starting to twinge and his neck is throbbing, but he feels like he’s been dusted in gold. He never thought in all of his years, that someone would actually want him this way. _

_ “Did I rock your world?” Gabriel questions. _

_ Jack lets out a chuckle and glances down his chest to look at Gabe. The other man is grinning like a loon, hips still tight to Jack’s ass and knot still engaged. Gone is his usual beanie and the curls are a mess from Jack’s grabby fingers.  _

_ Gabe’s hand glides up and over his pecs to caress the bite mark at the junction of Jack’s neck and shoulder. It stings, but it also lights Jack’s chest up in affection. He sighs in contentment, tipping his neck to the side to let Gabriel explore what Jack gave him.  _

_ “Never thought I’d deserve this.” Gabriel mutters, fingers gentle around the swollen bite.  _

_ Jack blinks, “Deserve?” he frowns, “Gabe-.” _

_ “Didn’t exactly come from the best place.” Gabe continues, silencing Jack’s protest, “Came here to get away from it all, maybe learn a new skill set or two. Figured this was the best way to wipe my past.”  _

_ Jack watches him with worried eyes, but says nothing, merely cups the side of Gabriel’s neck with his hand.  _

_ “Wasn’t expecting you.” Gabriel mouths an open kiss to the center of Jack’s chest.  _

_ Jack uses his hand to bring Gabe’s mouth up to his own. The kiss is slick and needy, soft groans bleeding from mouth to mouth. Gabriel’s fingers curl into the dip of Jack’s back as he tips his head and devours. Jack melts under it, letting out a soft whine as Gabriel’s knot finally recedes and the alpha pulls out.  _

_ “We can go again in the morning, bello.” Gabriel nips at Jack’s lips, “Rest, mi amor.” _

 

This time, when Jack wakes, it’s with a steady sadness gripping his chest. His face is sticky with dried tears and he rolls over onto his side. A stack of candy bars and a slice of chocolate cake is sitting where the empty bowls had been. 

He sends a silent thank you to Hana and reaches out to snatch one of the bars. 

A shower comes next, along with a clean set of jogging pants and shirt. He exits his room, empty plate in one hand and the last candy bar unwrapped in the other. The watchpoint is usually quiet at three am, but he can hear Hanzo’s arrows thwapping gently into targets as he passes one of the training rooms. Jesse’s soft baritone is going on about a recent mission after every shot. 

Jack always found it odd that Jesse had pursued Hanzo. Overwatch wasn’t exactly a place to find true love, but it had only taken a solid three months for the gunslinger to wear the archer down to go on a date. The two have been inseparable since. And to Jack’s knowledge, Jesse’s been through two heats since and Hanzo has been at his side. 

He rubs the space between his pecs, the ghost of Gabriel’s mouth and the promises pressed there an aching chasm. 

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


“I’m going to go on record and tell you this is a bad idea.” Sombra frowns, arms crossed over her chest. 

Gabe shrugs, “Don’t care.” 

“You’re asking me to hack into  _ Overwatch _ security.” She hisses, “So you can get laid.” 

Gabriel turns to her, mask hiding his face, “You did it at the hotel.”

“That was a hotel!” She throws her hands up, “Not an elite agency of soldiers who want our heads on platters!”

“Will you do it or not?” He snaps.

Sombra smirks, “Of  _ course, pendejo.”  _ She waves a hand, “I’ve been wanting to hack Athena for months now. You assholes have me breaking into little hotels. Pah.” 

He watches her go with a frown, hoping she does the hacking without her usual flaming arrogance. He needs to slip in quietly. 

For all his trying to keep focused on his goals, it was hard to do with the sharp tug of loneliness in his gut. He shouldn’t have renewed the bond, no matter how small it had been. He shouldn’t have bitten Jack once, much less the three times after. Now, he spends every waking moment with an itch he can’t scratch under his smoking skin. When he sleeps, however, oh when he sleeps. 

He sinks down into his bed in a cloud of smoke, kevlar and cloak gone in a whisp. He stares at the ceiling through his mask and debates staying up all night. 

Sleeping hurts.

Sleeping  _ aches _ because the memories spread like a wildfire. 

He falls anyway.

 

_ “Why do you have to be so slow, Jackie?” Gabriel complains from the top of a set of clay steps. Jack is trolling along behind him, hands in the pockets of his dress blue pants. Gone is his uniform top and left is a white undershirt stretched tight across his pecs and tucked into the slacks. He glances up at Gabriel with a cheeky grin. _

_ “You wanted me to enjoy the festival, I’m just enjoying.” Jack shrugs.  _

_ Gabriel rolls his eyes, “Well, I can’t get you to the best view if you’re walking like a slug.” He snags Jack’s hand when the blond gets close.  _

_ The sounds of the Dorado street festival echo through the narrow alley they walk through. Gabriel retraces his steps from his childhood and finally arrives at a rickety wooden ladder. He puts some pressure on it with his free hand and turns to Jack, who looks skeptical.  _

_ “I used to do this all the time.” Gabriel assures. _

_ One of Jack’s eyebrows go up, “I thought you were an LA boy.” _

_ “I am.” Gabriel snorts, climbing the ladder and wincing as it groans under his supersoldier weight. “But my Abuela lived down here, so I’d visit her.”  _

_ He glances down to make sure Jack is following him and sure enough, he is. Once they reach the top of the roof, Gabriel leans over the side and helps Jack climb up.  _

_ “Oh.” Jack’s soft exclamation of wonder sends a warm wave of pride through him.  _

_ The roof was wide, with one slide swooping down to overlook the water. A nest of red, blue, and yellow blankets rested in the center, two bottles of wine on the right. The edge of the roof was lined in white fairy lights and they cast silver shadows across the dark clay floor.  _

_ “Fireworks are gonna start soon.” Gabriel presses a hand to center of Jack’s back and leads him to the nest.   _

_ They both curl up in the center, the cold sea air sending a shock of a breeze to them. Jack grabs one of the blankets and covers them, nuzzling up under Gabriel’s chin.  _

_ “Thought you were mad at me.” Jack whispers. _

_ Gabriel forces down the twist of anger that flares in his belly. Unwarranted, yet unable to stop. He curls his hand through Jack’s golden locks and closes his eyes.  _

_ “I am.”  _

_ Jack’s body slumps against him. “If I could-.” _

_ “No.” Gabriel growls, “Not here. This is for us to enjoy.” He drags his hand down over the mark on Jack’s neck, “No promotions. No overwatch. Just us.” _

_ The first set of fireworks pop across the horizon and cheers erupt from below. They sit and watch as a multitude of lights snap and sizzle against the stars. It lasts for nearly an hour while they pass the bottle of wine back and forth, and share gentle, closed mouth kisses.  _

_ “Will you still follow me?”  _

_ They’re laying back against the nest now, sky quiet and wrapped in each other’s arms. Gabriel can smell Jack’s nerves, despite the alcohol and relaxation.  _

_ He isn’t sure what to feel about the promotion yet. The anger is there and the bitterness rests right under it. The unfairness of it all coils tight in his stomach. _

_ “Where you go, I go, Jack.” He murmurs to the sky like a promise. _

_ Jack’s arm tightens over his chest, “Together or not at all.” _

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

A month passes and Jack knows he has made a grave mistake in allowing Gabriel to re-establish the bond. His next heat comes sooner than he has marked on his calendar and even  _ Hanzo _ can smell it. 

The archer eyes him where he stands next to the coffee pot and Jack attempts to make his big body look smaller. Hanzo may be a tiny man, but the alpha in him still sends his instincts skittering like a rat. 

“It is not any different than your usual scent.” Hanzo assures, “However, there is an underlying scent that may cause a problem to an untrained alpha.” 

Jack relaxes a little at that, not many alphas on the overwatch base right now. Just Hanzo and Fareeha for the next week or so. His heat should be long gone by then. 

“I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable.” Jack grumbles into his mug of coffee. 

“Not at all.” Hanzo pulls the teabag from his cup of tea, “I merely wanted to point out the difference in case you have a need to see Doctor Ziegler.” 

Jack winces, “No. No. I don’t need to see her.”

He watches Hanzo take a slow, careful sip of his tea and those dark brown eyes are watching him from over the rim. Jack’s belly twitches at the intensity and for a split second, he recognizes what Jesse’s always bragging about. 

“Did you perhaps mate with another alpha?” The question is innocent enough. Jack doesn’t want to answer it. 

Hanzo takes his silence as a means to continue, “Because as I am aware, an omega who has hit their fertility end can not have a heat if they are unmated.” 

“I was mated once.” Jack snaps, “You already know that. Jesse has a bit mouth.” 

A low growl vibrates from Hanzo’s chest as Jack’s insult to Jesse, but Jack stands his ground, eyes narrowed down at the elder Shimada. 

“So you would still have a heat, albeit, an uncomfortable one, yet able to function.” Hanzo keeps going. Keeps spilling Jack’s worst fears out over the ugly tile floor of the shared kitchen. “Which means, that your mate is not dead.” Jack swallows a swig of hot ass coffee and relishes the burn it leaves down his throat, “You enacted a bond with him, didn’t you?”

Jack doesn't answer and Hanzo sighs heavily, “You have gone without a bond for how many years, Jack?”

“Too many.” Jack finally croaks, “I’ve lost count.”

“No you have not.” Hanzo tosses his head, “Should I be split from Jesse, I would count every day down to the second.”

“Then why ask?” Jack snarls.

“Because you need to say it out loud.” Hanzo insists, “Say it out loud, Jack.”

Jack inhales shakily, lets it out in a rush, “Gabriel’s alive.”

“And?” Hanzo sets his tea down, cup long empty.

“And I allowed him to bond with me again.” The words hurt, god fucking damn it they hurt. His chest knots up and he feels like he can’t breathe. He knows good and goddamn well that mating with Gabriel again is a shit storm. Gabriel is  _ Reaper.  _ Gabriel is  _ talon _ . 

Enemy.

Jack closes his eyes in shame, “I-.”

“What the hell is goin’ on in here?” Jesse’s voice breaks the moment like the shattering of glass. 

Jack jerks to his full height as Hanzo’s mate strolls in dressed in sweats and a work-out shirt. Jesse isn’t wearing his hat, but he is wearing a very murderous expression, “Why the fuck you reek of heat, Morrison?” 

“Calm.” Hanzo presses a hand to Jesse’s chest to stop him from advancing on Jack. The gunslinger’s face forms into a snarl, a territorial response to another omega in the vicinity of their alpha. Normally, it wouldn’t matter. Jack has a feeling his scent is telling a different story this time.

“I’ll leave.” Jack sets his mug in the sink.

As he walks to the door, he can hear Hanzo talking softly to a very irate Jesse. 

“Why the fuck he in here stinkin’ up the place and you just-.”

Hanzo sighs, “Calm,  _ koibito _ . We were merely sharing conversation.”

“He wants to share mor’en that!”

“Of course not. Come.” 

Jack chuckles lightly, despite the ache in his chest. He remembers a time when he was just as territorial over Gabe. How many nights did he ride Gabriel till they were both sobbing messes because some man or woman tried to lure him from Jack’s side? 

The corridors are empty, as they usually are when a team is gone. He casts a longing stare down the hall where is room would be and lets out a weary sigh. 

The detour to Angela’s quarters is a short one and he hesitates with his fist over the door. It sweeps open before he can lay his knuckles to metal and her expression is probably scathing. He can feel its heat. 

“I can smell you down the hall, Jack.”  

He visibly winces, “Is it that bad?”

“You reek.” She wrinkles her nose, “But the question is  _ why _ do you smell different?”

He shuffles his shoulders, something he used to do under Ana’s stern stare what feels like a thousand years ago. “Gabriel is alive.”

Angela’s face falls into one of terror, “ _ What? _ ”

“Reaper.” Jack mumbles, eyes shifting to the side.

Her anger, even for a beta, is potent in the air around them. She steps back into her room and Jack can only see the fuzzy outline of her body. For second, he’s afraid she’s going to turn him away. She’s never turned anyone away, but Jack figures that mating with the enemy probably goes on Angela’s ‘not evening going to touch that’ list.

Instead, she surprises him by snatching her lab coat and stepping out into the hall with him. 

“With me.” She taps his arm, “To the med bay. I want to run some tests. There’s no telling what your biology is doing at the point.”

Jack frowns and follows, “What do you mean?” 

“I mean,” She begins, accent clipped, “That your mate  _ died  _ and you were left without a bond. For years, Jack,  _ years. _ ” Her footsteps are easy to follow, but even blind he knows the watchpoint. “If you mated with him again and jumpstarted an old bond, your body may treat it like a  _ new _ one.”

Jack swallows thickly.

Meaning, his body will going into a proper heat.

“Are you in the first day?” She shoves the doors to the med bay open.

“First couple of hours, actually.” Jack replies and lets her lead him to one of the beds. He takes a seat slowly, wincing as he feels the slick between his legs. “Damn.”

“When you slept with him, did you secrete?” He can hear her rummaging through her boxes or drawers or whatever she keeps her equipment in. 

“Yea.” He’s staring at the floor now, because he’s pretty sure his face is bright red. He’s too old for this shit.

“Let me see the mark.” She’s in front of him again. 

He tugs the collar of his shirt to the side to expose the recently healed mark. Her cool, slim fingers run over it in a medical fashion, poking and prodding the skin. The heat itself is curling at the base of his spine like a warm, comfortable liquid. It’s not unbearable yet, but he can’t exactly remember what his heats had been like before age set in. 

“You lied to Winston and to me.” Her voice is hard and he deserves that. 

He doesn’t even say the words, just nods slowly and lets her continue the examination. 

A while later, after she’s taken blood and left him alone in the room, he wonders about the odds. He has spent so many years mourning Gabriel, aching for him and curling up inside himself to try and erase the pain of loss. It seems almost like a dream that in the span of two months, he’s re-bonded with the person he expected to spend his life with. 

A low whine erupts from his chest and he leans over to burry his face in his hands.

Gabriel hadn’t wanted forever. 

 

_ “Why won’t you listen to me?” Gabriel snarls.  _

_ Jack stands in the center of their room, naked except for one of Gabriel’s t-shirts and feeling completely frustrated. He was only a couple of hours out of his heat and covered in Gabriel’s scent and marks. His entire body is buzzing with endorphins and the only thing he truly wants is to sleep with his mate. _

_ “What do you want me to say?” Jack holds his hands out, “You don’t have any proof.” _

_ “Proof?!” Gabriel lashes out, “I shouldn’t need proof, goddamn it Jack, you’re supposed to be on my side!” _

_ “I am!” Jack insists, “But you can’t go around accusing Blackwatch of being infiltrated by Talon without  _ **_proof_ ** _.”  _

_ Gabriel lets out another snarl and starts pacing angrily across the floor, “I need you to get the stick command has shoved up your ass out and listen to me.” _

_ “Talon isn’t in Overwatch, Gabriel.” Jack is beginning to lose his temper, “You can’t make accusations like that.” He doesn’t like using his Strike Commander voice on Gabriel, ever. Gabriel is the one exception, Gabriel is everything Jack needs to keep.  _

_ Gabriel stops at the sound of his voice, head turning slowly and eyes burning, “You don’t believe me.”  _

_ Jack can’t see past the post-heat haze in his brain, so no. He can only reign in his affection by force and do the only thing he can, “I  _ **_can’t_ ** _ believe you.” The words come out in a croak.  _

_ He can tell by the shattered look on Gabriel’s face that his entire world is going to come down. _

_ “Fine.” Gabriel’s voice is calm, too calm and the hairs on Jack’s neck rise in muted terror. “Then we’re done.” _

**_NO._ **

_ Jack’s hands curl into fists, “That’s not fair, Gab-.” _

_ “No.” Gabriel’s alpha voice freezes his insides, “We were supposed to be in this together, Jack.” He puts his shoulders back, “The only thing tying us is that mark,” He points at Jack’s neck and he has the overwhelming urge to cover it, “Now get out.” _

_ Gabriel pushes the button for the door and it slides open with a quiet hiss. Jack can’t breathe while he slips on his pants and walks to the door. His hands shake as he steps over the doorway, wanting desperately to fall at Gabriel’s feet.  _

_ He can’t. He  _ **_can’t_ ** _.  _

_ Why can’t you!? _

_ The door snaps shut behind him and Jack lets out a rush of air that is borderline painful.  _

_ He’d heard stories, legends, myths about omega’s whose mates denounced them. Threw them out. Let them go. _

_ He realizes that the pain is nothing like in the stories.  _

 

-0-0-0-0-0-

 

Jack isn’t in his room.

His scent is concentrated, dripping, and Gabriel can’t pinpoint it. He stares around the small accommodations the ‘new’ overwatch has provided their former strike commander. His smoke curls over the bedsheets, not made (how unlike Jack) and the clothes left strew across the floor. 

“Looking for someone?” The sharp pop of bubblegum startles him and he curses.

He turns to face the MEKA driver, who is not wearing her gear, only a set of bunny pajamas. She leans against the doorframe of Jack’s room and watches him in a way that unnerves him.

“If you’re looking for Jack, he’s been confined to the med bay till his new heat breaks.” 

Gabriel frowns behind his mask, “New heat?” 

“You know, if boys used their brains instead of their dicks,” She grins, “Then you would have known that biology is a tricky, tricky lady.”

“I don’t need a lecture from a child.” Gabriel growls. 

She waves at him, “Course not.” Then jerks her thumb out the door, “I assume you know where the med bay is then? Jack was looking pretty torn up when I brought him his usual binge.” She eyes him curiously, “I always wondered what other super soldiers looked like. Not what I expected.”

Gabriel doesn’t bother replying to her. He shifts into smoke and curls through the halls he once knew so well. He passes rooms that once held members of Blackwatch and Overwatch alike, memories like shadows hiding behind closed doors. 

He forms in front of the med bay doors just as Jack pushes them open in a fit of rage.

“I don’t need to stay in this fucking hospital all night, Ang!”

“Jack Morrison you get your ass back in that bed!” Angela shouts from further in the room. 

Jack freezes in the middle of what he’s about to say next, milky eyes starting from Gabriel’s boots up to the mask covering his face. He spots Angela walking rapidly, anger in her features, towards them and swallows down the urge to bolt. 

He’s not supposed to be here. 

She stops mid-stride when she sees him.

“How did you get in?” Jack hisses. 

“I have my ways.” Gabriel scents the air around them. Jack’s heat _ is _ different. Now that he’s standing in front of the man and not in a room of muted smells, he can pick it apart perfectly. 

Gone is the ice honey scent from their last coupling. This scent is familiar,  _ this _ scent is honey over sugar and cinnamon. It’s the heat scent of a  _ young _ omega. 

Gabriel steps into Jack’s space and rumbles approvingly at the scent. Jack’s own body surges against him and a new rush of pheromones cloud the air around them both. Gabriel shoves his mask up and away, grasping Jack by the back of his head and tipping him back for a kiss. 

Jack groans into it, tongue tangling and fingers curling into the black fabric of his coat. His body flares to life with his omega in his reach, the heat hazing him to the point of aggression. He knows there’s another person there, watching, and his first response is to crowd Jack up against the doorframe to shield him from view. 

“I’m going to ignore the fact that you got through Athena’s security and advise you to take him to his room.” Angela’s voice pierces through the haze, but only barely. 

He growls threateningly as he hears her step closer. 

“You’re going into a rut, Gabriel.” She states, “Take him to his room. For both of your sakes.”

He doesn’t think, he just goes. 

 

-0-0-0-0-0-

 

They don’t even make it to the bed.

Jack shoves Gabriel to the ground, strips them both in a matter of minutes and sits astride Gabriel’s cock. The burn is eased by the sheer amount of slick leaking from his hole, but it’s still an overwhelming shock of fullness. Gabriel shouts under him, talons accidentally slicing the skin at Jack’s thighs before the smoke bleeds to fingers. 

Jack rides him fast and hard, hips pumping in a steady rhythm while his fingers hold tight to the alphas shoulders. His cock is dripping onto Gabe’s abdomen, bouncing with every thrust. 

Jack forgot what a real heat felt like. The lack of control, his body's screaming demand to mate, mate, mate. He also forgot what Gabriel sounded like when Jack took the reigns. 

Deep, throaty moans and sharp sighs, fingers slipping through the sweat gathering on Jack’s skin as he tries to hold onto something of the omega. Every sound Gabe makes is like music to his ears.

“Look at you.” Jack grins, vision blurry, but he can still make out Gabriel’s scrunched features through the haze, “Did you miss me, alpha?”

“ _ Yes _ ,” Gabriel groans, “Harder,  _ mi luna.  _ Ride me.” His hips snap up into Jack and it hits right where he needs it and the orgasm takes him by surprise. White streaks paint Gabriel’s chest and Jack lets out a rough laugh as he continues to bounce. 

The alpha flips them over easily, Jack’s back hitting the floor. Pale legs get hiked up over dark, smoldering shoulders and Gabriel slams home again. His talons curl back out to dig into the floor over Jack’s shoulders to keep the omega from sliding back across the floor with each thrust. 

Jack comes again over his own stomach and his scream is worn and breathless, hands scrambling to find purchase on the slick floor. He moans with every thrust and the burn in his body is almost dangerous. He doesn’t know if he can even survive a normal heat at his age. 

Gabriel is muttering sentences in spanish above him, breathy promises weaved in his native tongue and making Jack keen in response. He only knows a few words, but they speak of beauty and sweet nothings Gabriel hasn’t spoken to him in over a decade. He pulls the alpha down for a kiss and presses his own words against them. 

He shouldn’t speak of love or forever, they don’t have that anymore. There is no forever in this world. 

“I love you,  _ mi luna. _ ” Gabriel says it instead and it sends Jack into a shrill whine.

“No.” Jack shakes his head, “ _ No. _ ”

“I have always loved you, Jack.” Gabriel’s voice is so sure above him, hips pumping fast and quick, and Jack can feel his knot expanding. The alpha is close, so close but he’s waiting.

Jack can feel the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes, his instincts screaming at him in rebellion. 

“I never stopped.” 

Jack cries out, arms tight around Gabriel’s neck, he feels like he’s gasping for air now, chest clogged with age old emotion. 

Gabriel’s next growl comes from deep within his chest and it vibrates against Jack’s. He keens with every thrust, showing his neck when their eyes finally meet. Gabe takes it as an offering and bites, hips grinding firmly as his knot expands and sends Jack’s senses screaming. His third orgasm is silent and he whimpers against Gabe’s own neck as the alpha reaches his peak with a groan. 

Jack feels the heat recede, probably not for long, but long enough for him to nuzzle at Gabe’s ear. The alpha turns his head and catches Jack’s mouth in a wet kiss. The tension in his body releases as they kiss, muscles relaxing and skin cooling in the aftermath. 

“We should probably get to the bed.” Jack mumbles.

“Agreed.” Gabriel chuckles. 

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

“Angela say what caused it?” Gabriel mumbles much, much later, when he has Jack pliant and warm against his side. Both of their respective times have passed, leaving them both sated and warm under Jack’s covers. 

Jack hums, “The serum combined with stress combined with you coming back from the dead and a bunch of other medical mumbo jumbo.” 

Gabriel huffs, “Sounds about right.”

“What are we going to do about this, Gabe?” Jack sighs, fingers dancing over the smoking planes of his alpha’s chest.

“No idea,  _ cariño. _ ” Gabe’s own fingers are trailing soft, whispering patterns over the backs of Jack’s shoulders. “I can’t stay.”

“I know that.” Jack snaps, “I just-.” 

Gabe knows, he understands. 

“Wish I could take back that day.” Jack whispers, “Maybe none of this would have happened.”

Gabe lets out a sigh and smoke curls into the air, “Oh Jack. It would have happened anyway.”

This future was inevitable, no matter how much Gabriel wished it wasn’t. No matter how many times he tried to wish and dream that Talon hadn’t infiltrated their ranks, it always ended the same.

Everyone dead and Jack gone. 

“I need you to stay alive, Jackie.” Gabriel mutters, “For me.”

Jack lifts his head slowly and looks at him, eyes clouded and confused. The question is written on his face and Gabriel wants so bad to tell him everything. 

Not this time though. He won’t lose Jack again. 

“Soon,  _ mis milenios. _ ” He tips his head back against the pillows, sleep curling at the edge of his vision, “Soon.”

He isn’t awake for Jack’s reply. 

  
  
  


**End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am operating this fic under the impression that Gabriel is taking Talon down from the inside. 
> 
> Edit: This fic has ARTWORK now.[Here](https://kinkyarkhive.tumblr.com/post/159073743606/1-kudos-to-your-icon-one-of-my-alltime-fav) and [Here](https://twitter.com/SiIent_Dreams/status/838387271703400448) and [here!](http://pasicdarluth.tumblr.com/post/160646107337/because-i-have-like-no-chill-about-this-fic-i)
> 
> I have no idea if I'll write another chapter, so I try to keep them as open ended, yet closed as possible. I never know when the ideas strike, I just ride the wave
> 
> Thank everyone for your support, comments, and kudos. You guys are the best!


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! 
> 
> You can all thank the lovely [pasicdarluth](http://pasicdarluth.tumblr.com/) for this chapter. (Ps. Also check out their art because it's beautiful?!)
> 
> Oh boy. Oh man. Strap in for some feels.
> 
>  **Warnings:**  
>  Mentions of Mpreg  
> Miscarriage

**Four**

  
  
  


“You don’t need to look so disappointed in me.” Jack huffs from one of the med-bays many cots. He’s only seen Angela’s face two times, once when he entered the room and the second time when she took his blood and stared at him with-well- _ disappointment.  _

She gives a derisive snort and he looks up to see her in her chair, testing his blood. Her lab coat is rumpled, meaning she was up late and probably hasn’t seen the inside of her room in a while. 

“I’m not disappointed, Jack.” She sighs, spinning slightly to face him, “A little concerned that you were so irresponsible, however.”

_ Fair _ , he thinks. 

“You’re in your fifties, Jack.” Angela crosses her arms over her chest, the blood machine beeping steadily behind her, “The heat you just experienced is something that  _ new _ omegas go through when they have their first heat.” 

He frowns, “That doesn’t seem right.” 

“Are you the doctor?” She scowls, then continues, “This could have serious repercussions. Especially since newly mated Omegas require constant contact with their Alphas.”

“I don’t need that.” Jack lies, “I’m a grown ass man and I don’t  _ need _ Gabriel here.” He’s a dirty, dirty liar. It’s been a week and he’s already feeling the tug. Gabriel had left with him a fleeting kiss that felt too short and with no information on how to get in contact with him. Jack had curled up in his bed, sheets still smelling like his alpha, and slept for two days before Lena came and coaxed him back out. Hana had sat across from him at the table and would not let him leave until his entire calorie binge was sated. 

Angela doesn’t believe him, which seems to be a running theme between them lately. She’s staring straight through him. The blood monitor beeps behind her and she twists the chair back around to look at the results. 

“High levels of estrogen, sugars a bit high too,” She frowns, “Hana’s candy bars no doubt,” When she comes back to face him, his heart is in his throat, because the entire reason for him being here is about to be revealed. “Negative on HCG.”

He deflates in relief, shoulders sagging forward and heart finally calming. His hands cup the front of his face and he tries not to hyperventilate, “Thank fucking god.”

“Don’t get too excited.” Angela warns, “You’re only a week out of your heat, female Omegas show signs within days, but you’re  _ male _ Jack, I can’t be sure. I’ll be checking you for at least six weeks.” 

He watches her blurry form twist back around to record the results from the test. His stomach twists unpleasantly, “Ang, I’m too old to get pregnant.”

“I’m aware.” She reminds him, “I doubt you could carry young to term. You’ve already hit the end of your fertility.” He watches her put up a finger, “ _ But _ you’re a super soldier and with a new bond kickstarting a fresh heat, there’s no telling what could happen reproductively speaking, so don’t get comfortable.”

He nods to himself, drops his hands between his sweatpants-clad thighs and feels the twist like a knife in his belly. As much as he enjoyed his few days wrapped up in Gabe’s arms, a heat that intense came with consequences. Back when they were still young, Jack was on meds to prevent that simply because he was a  _ soldier _ and there was no room for children in his plans. He had been content to help Ana with Fareeha, watching her grow and teaching her to shoot. 

He feels for the bite mark at his neck, the rigid bumps from Gabriel’s teeth. The raised skin is a comfort as well as a reminder of how  _ fucked _ their circumstances are. He can glow with the thought of having his mate back all day long, but in the end they are still enemies. Still on opposite sides of the battlefield. 

“You’re clear,” Angela’s voice drifts back to him, “Get some more food and then go debrief with Winston. Try not to let him pop a vessel when you tell him what you did.”

Jack nods, pushing himself off of the table and reaching out for the shirt he’d tossed over a chair. He makes he way out of medical and into the hallway, feeling along the walls as he heads in the direction of the debriefing room. That young, impulsive part of him wants to turn tail and hide in his room, but as Angela so politely reminded him, he’s fifty, not eighteen. 

Winston is pacing the floor behind the meeting table when Jack arrives. The gorilla is a large, impending form, blurry or not. Jack steps into the room, shutting the door gently behind him. Winston stops pacing when the door clicks and if he thought Angela looked disappointed in him, then Winston’s look of absolute despair could win an award. 

“You  _ lied _ to us.” Winston states firmly.

“I did.” Jack replies, “But I’m not going to apologize for it.” He won’t be made to feel ashamed about getting his  _ mate _ back after all these years. Winston could throw him out of Overwatch completely and Jack would go right back to doing what he did before. No regrets, no turning back. 

“I’m not asking for an apology, Morrison.” Winston rubs his temples, “I’m asking for an explanation. You need to let me know what you were  _ thinking _ .”

“I was thinking that my-.” Jack swallows, “That my mate was alive.”

“He’s a  _ mercenary _ , Jack. He’s killed people.” Winston insists, “You lied on not one, but  _ two _ missions of which you were point.” 

Jack frowns, “To be fair, I didn’t know that the second mission would involve Reaper and Sombra.”

“But you still let him bond with you.” Winston snapped, “That in itself was dangerous. He could have killed you.”

“You wanted me to  _ sleep _ with the target,” Jack raises his chin, shoulders thrown back in defiance, “Either way, I was still there to use my body. The intended target never showed up.”

“That doesn’t mean you-!” Winston throws his arms up into the air, “That’s not an excuse.”

Jack crosses his own arms over his chest, “So whoring myself out for the good of Overwatch is better than sleeping with the man I was  _ mated _ to for fifteen fucking years.” 

Winston turns on him, angry, eyes red, “ _ Re-bonding _ with an undead mercenary of which we have  _ no _ known information on is what pisses me off, Morrison.” He points a finger at him, “Angela’s told me, your biology is going insane right now. Elevated levels, binging like crazy, you’re too old to be playing house with the enemy.”

Jack bares his teeth angrily and Winston recoils at the sight before his eyebrows go down into a scowl. It’s a risky attack, Winston has a temper when provoked, but the gorilla takes a deep breath instead of showing his own canines. 

“For all you know,” Winston says, “He could be laying this out as a trap.” One of his hands fall onto Jack’s shoulders, fingers curling tight and shaking gently, “Jack, he could use this to bring us down.” 

Jack is fully aware of that. It doesn’t matter that Gabriel whispered sweet nothings and promises into the skin of Jack’s back when they joined for the last time. It didn’t matter that Gabriel asked him to stay alive, that he had something  _ planned _ . Jack has run every scenario through his head a dozen times, probably more than that, because he’s also worried that Gabriel will turn on him again.

_ Again. _

He ignores the heavy tightening of his heart and looks up at Winston, “I won’t let that happen, I assure you.”

Winston frowns, but nods once and dismisses him. 

Jack leaves the room with the weight of the world on his shoulders. 

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


“ _ All clear _ .” Sombra’s voice is crisp over the coms as Gabriel slithers, smoky and thick through the cracked window of a worn down warehouse. He forms in full gear in the center of a room, computer screens fizzy with purple static and Sombra’s telling symbol flickering in the center. His boots thump ominously across the broken tiled floor, trash and leaves pushed aside as he wades through the mess to get to the computer. 

“Why do I need to be here if you’re controlling the system?” Gabriel mutters, hovering near the console and frowning at the mess of torn wires and buttons.

“ _ Because the information we need is on an encrypted part of the drive.” _ Sombra replies matter-of-factly, “ _ The flash drive I gave you will decrypt it and then I can swoop in and steal the data. _ ”

He clicks his tongue in irritation, but pulls the thin, black usb drive from his belt. It takes a second to pop it into the appropriate drive and the skull disappears. Scrolling paragraphs replace the fuzz, number and letters and symbols Gabriel couldn’t decipher even if he wanted to. He leaves that mess for Sombra. 

He listens for any signs of activity, Talon is usually crawling over even their abandoned sites most days. With the security systems cameras down from the Overwatch raid that took the site, Sombra couldn’t tell if the perimeter was being walked or not. It was a guessing game and-he stares irritably down at the computer-a waiting game as well. 

Gabe was getting impatient. Three weeks, four days, six hours since he’s seen Jack. His body itches constantly, the tug of the bond strong and as wired as it was during their younger days. He was ramped eighty percent of the time and all he could think about was  _ Jack _ . Jack being alive, Jack wandering the Overwatch base with other  _ Alphas _ , his new scent drawing them in like flies. 

His talons scrap against the console, metallic flakes coming up along their path. 

“ _ Try not to damage the console, cabron. _ ” Sombra snaps, “ _ I’d hate to have to find another abandoned information center to help you get your fix.” _

“It’s not a fix.” Gabriel hisses, “You know why I’m doing this.”

She snorts and he can hear her fingers clicking furiously at whatever computer she’s stationed at. More white letters appear on the screen before him, scrolling fast or slowing down depending on what Sombra’s doing on the other end. 

“ _ Gonna take some time to copy. _ ” She finally states, “ _ Slower means I can monitor activity. _ ”

“Meaning if someone catches us you can divert it?”

“ _ Easy as pie. _ ”

He scoffs and clicks a talon against the console, trying to reign in the rolling tiger under his skin. Sombra hums on the other end, something spanish and poppy in origin. It grates on his nerves, but he tolerates it because she  _ is _ helping him. They could both be punished for this and yet she keeps readily agreeing to help him no matter how ridiculous the plan. 

“ _ So. _ ” She starts conversationally, “ _ How was your adventure into the Overwatch base? _ ”

He closes his eyes behind his mask with an angry inhale, “Not your business.”

_ “The soldier taste as good as he smells? _ ”

His eyes snap open and a low, warning snarl forces its way out of his chest, “ _ Excuse  _ me?”

Sombra chuckles, “ _ You came back reeking of someone’s heat, Gabbi. Figured it would be 76, _ ” She purrs over the intercom and it makes him a little nauseous, “ _ Honey and cream and fresh summer berries. _ ” She tsks happily, “ _ You lucky, lucky dog. _ ”

His stomach rumbles in hunger at the memory of that scent. Jack had been leaking it, all over his cock, his hands, his mouth. He licks his lips and attempts to control his body's response to it. There’s a feral part of him that wants that scent to stay, but the rational side knows that they are both too old for youth to stick around. Serum and strange jump starts aside, he hopes Jack’s scent returns to normal and his aged-wine taste back for him to sample later. 

“Just get the information I need.” He hisses.

“ _ You’re no fun _ .” She teases, “ _ Come on. From one Alpha to another, locker room talk. What was he like? _ ”

Like everything Gabriel remembered him to be. Vocal, needy, large hands grasping for Gabriel and body blossoming open as if on command. Jack had always been so easy for him and only him, quick witted and headstrong. Gabe would ride him so hard everytime Jack ran straight for danger, pushing through it like a hurricane and coming out golden and heroic on the other side. 

Jack being benched as strike commander had been both a relief and a punch to the face. 

“ _And_ _done!_ ” Sombra chirps, “ _Some nasty stuff on this drive.”_

To be expected, Gabriel thinks wryly as he plucks the usb stick from the drive and pockets it. He dissolves through the window again, listening to Sombra read off mission reports and confirmed Overwatch member kills. 

He recognizes some of the names, most of them younger and lower ranking. Three of them were commanding officers. 

“ _ Confirmed kill: Jack Morrison Swiss HQ _ .” Sombra whistles. 

Gabriel reforms near their most recent hideout, waiting for her to pop the lock on the door. He hears it click once and slips through, coming to a rest behind her desk. She pays him no mind as he peers over her at the smiling picture of a graying Jack. The picture had been taken a year after he’d thrown Jack out. The weary, worn lines of his face strained the smile.

“Wow, the strike commander is kinda-.” She snickers, “Old.”

“We were the same age,” Gabriel grouses, “And commanding an entire organization of augmented humans isn’t exactly an  _ easy _ job.”

She glances up at him, “Why’re you defending him? Didn’t he like-steal your job or something?”

Gabriel snorts, crosses his arms over his chest, “Or something.” He’s amused that she hadn’t figured out who 76 really was. For such a bright young thing, she was missing what was so obviously in her face. 

“He’s dead now though.” She grins, clicking through his file gleefully, “Lotta medals. Lotta information on him here. Guess that’s why it was so easy for Talon to crush him under a building.” 

Gabriel fights down the urge to snarl at her, teeth bared. However, it’s the small snippet near the bottom of the intel that catches his eye. “Stop there.” He leans over her shoulder.

_ Commander Morrison shows great admiration and respect for the Blackwatch Commander Reyes(AKA the Asset). The asset returns that admiration. They work in close quarters with Amari and all meetings between the three commanders are behind locked doors. Upon further investigation, I’ve uncovered that the Blackwatch and Overwatch Commanders are a mated pair. _

_ Exploit at all costs. Obtain the asset. _

His blood boils, hands curling into fists and a low, nasty growl breaking from his chest. He pushes away from the desk and starts pacing angrily, smashing a lamp here and putting his fist through rotted sheetrock. 

When he’s done, Sombra is facing him, Jack’s face bright behind her on the screen, but she’s not smiling. Her arms are resting limply on the chairs rests, “Reaper.” She begins, “Is 76 your mate?”

“Ding ding.” Gabriel snaps.

She frowns, “All  _ three _ commanders survived this?” She waves to the computer behind her, “What did you want to obtain from any of this mess? It’s outdated, obviously!”

Gabriel takes a deep breath, “I needed proof that there had been a leak.”

“A spy, you mean.” She mutters, twisting back around to the screen, “Someone was watching you.” 

Exploit at all costs.

_ Exploit at all costs. _

He scraps his talons down the length of his mask and snarls. He had played right into everything. Every whispered word, the nasty rumors surrounding Jack and Ana and himself. Talon had been a scourg _ e,  _ a cancer that he couldn’t convince anyone of. But of course no one believed him, not even  _ Jack _ , but wasn’t that the point? Isn’t that what Talon wanted? To tear down the command from the inside. 

_ Exploit at all costs. _

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The only reason Jack was allowed to join Lucio and Hana on this mission was because Angela did  _ six _ different blood tests to make sure he was fit for duty. Which Jack thought was ridiculous and he told Angela so, but her scathing look was enough to shut him up rather quickly. 

Hanzo ends up joining them as well and Jack can see the gold whip of his hair tie from the rooftop of the adjoining building. To anyone else, it would look like a simple flag, but to the rest of them, it’s eyes in the sky. 

He skirts the inner walls of the building, Lucio one floor below him, humming into his comms and Hana on standby. This was only an extraction, Talon holding hostages using Omnics as guards.  

“ _ There are six hostages total. _ ” Comes Hanzo’s clipped, professional tone. 

“Should have brought more assault _.” _ Jack mumbles, “Which floor?”

“ _ Lucio’s. _ ” Hanzo replies, “ _ Two bastions, west corner and south corner. Four human guards and- _ ” He makes a curious sound, “ _ Only two omnic guards.” _

“The bastions are going to be rough.” Jack sighs, “Hana, you read?”

“ _ Loud and clear, need me? _ ” She sing-songs. 

“Sixth floor.” Jack replies, “Lucio meet her.”

“ _ What about you _ ?” Lucio inquires, “ _ We waiting for you? _ ”

“No.” Jack states, “I’m finding an alternative way inside the room. With two bastions on different walls, we need infiltration from the front and the rear. Make sure the hostages hit the deck. Are the bastions in turrent from?”

“ _ For now _ .” Hanzo says, “ _ On your mark, I will incapacitate the omnic guards first, then the humans that I can see.” _ He pauses and Jack frowns, “ _ Am I to leave one alive? _ ”

“Yea.” Jack agrees, “But make it hurt.”

Hanzo’s chuckle is dark over the coms, “My pleasure.”

Jack passes through two more rooms before he finally hears the muffled voices of talon guards and the frightened whimpers of the hostages. The high pitched beeps of the bastions are the loudest. He walks carefully across the floor, light on his feet as to not alert the guards below him. Lucio and Hana are chatting quietly over the comms, waiting for Jack’s mark. 

He maps out the locations of the hostages and guards as best he can. 

  
“ _ They are moving in and out of the window. _ ” Hanzo hisses in frustration.

“ _ Don’t stress. _ ” Hana whispers, “ _ We have this, Hanzo.” _

Jack finds an entry point right above a bastion, a hole in the ruined floor just large enough to fit through. He aims the pulse rifle through the opening, switches the helix rocket on. Sweat beads on the back of his neck and anticipation spikes up his spine. He watches a guard pass the bastion, talking in german to another guard. A hostage lets out a soft whimper when a guard shouts at them and Jack’s fingers curl tighter around the trigger. The visor gives him a clear view of the bastions weakest spot.

“On my mark. Hana, take the west bastion.” Jack states firmly.

“ _ Roger _ .” Hana replies.

He can hear the quick draw of Hanzo’s bow, the whirl of Hana’s mech, Lucio’s constant hum. Another guard lets out an angry retort.

“Now.”

He launches the helix rocket just as the sound of Hana’s Mech splinters the door to the room. Her laughter is almost as loud as the shouting of the guards and the whirling of the remaining bastions turret. When the last bastion shuts down, Jack drops into the room as two arrows take out the omnic guards in quick succession. 

Lucio is on Hana’s six, music bumping before rounding her with a flourish and heading for the hostages. Jack takes three out of four guards, two with rounds from the pulse rifle and the other with a handle to the face, knocking him clean out. He crumples to the floor in a heap and the roar of battle fizzes out like a doused fire.

“All clear.” Jack shouts.

“ _ No disturbances on the outside.” _

“Make sure evac is at the extraction point.” Jack orders.

“ _ Hn. _ ” is Hanzo’s short reply.

Lucio finishes untying the hostages and giving them gentle smiles and calming words. Jack checks the room for intel, pushing boxes around and searching for  _ some _ reason as to why Talon was holding hostages in broad daylight without proper ransom or demand.

It was too suspicious.

“Something’s wrong.” Jack murmurs.

“You too?” Hana asks from across the room, still in her mech and voice nervous, “Was this too easy?”

“It was.” Jack replies, “Move out.” He keeps up the rear, scanning the sides as Lucio and Hana lead the hostages out of the building and to the evac point. They are all babbling thanks and praises, how Overwatch was a blessing that should have never been snuffed out. 

Hanzo is standing at the mouth of the transport when they arrive, regal and patient as ever. Jack nods to him and he returns it, helping one of the women through the door as they arrive. He casts one look back out at the broken down buildings and tries to figure out why there were hostages again. The streets were quiet.

Was it a test? 

The doors hiss shut on them and the pilot calls the all clear for take off. Jack stands to the side, watching Lucio heal injuries and check for wounds. Hana is texting furiously on a handheld device. Hanzo is counting what is left of his arrows, other hand holding a phone, no doubt telling McCree how the mission went. 

He watches for a while, quietly in the corner. Now that the mission adrenaline has worn off, the itch between in his shoulder blades is back. Prominent and stubborn. That harsh tug of the bond that no doubt is starving after four weeks of no contact. He closes his eyes behind the visor and attempts to control his breathing. It only sours what’s already rolling around in his stomach. 

The nausea takes him by surprise and he rushes for the single bathroom near the back of the transport. He unclips the visor just in the nick of time and empties the contents of his stomach into the toilet with a groan. It lasts for what feels like hours and he hopes to whatever god there is that-

“You okay?” Lucio’s voice is soft, hesitant. 

Jack nods, “Ate something bad.”

“He is lying.” Hanzo mutters from his perch. Jack frowns into the bowl and reaches up to flush it away. 

“Lying?” Lucio inquires and now his voice is hard, “Jack, how long have you been sick?”

He closes his eyes in shame and presses his forehead to the cool porcelain of the bowl, “Just a few days.”

“Lying again.” Hanzo hums.

“Will you shut up?” Jack snarls, twisting around to glare at Hanzo. Fucking hell, he can’t see without the goddamn visor and Hanzo is just a haughty blur across the room.

“It has been a week.” Hanzo supplies and Jack thinks ‘ _ traitor’ _ angrily into the void as Lucio lets out a soft gasp.

“Have you told Mercy?” Lucio hisses, “She’s been giving you check ups! She said your levels were normal.”

“They are normal.” Jack snaps, “I’m  _ fine _ .” 

He can hear Hanzo’s prosthetics click against the floor of the transport, coming closer. Jack scents him quickly, instincts recoiling in fear because Hanzo is  _ mad _ . He smells like bonfire smoke and it stings his nose. The blurry form comes into focus once the archer is within vision distance and he lowers himself to Jack’s level. 

A cool hand presses to his neck and Jack lets out the most embarrassing keen at the feel of it. Anger aside, he bares his neck far too easily and a rush of heat accompanies it. Hanzo tsks softly, “Bondmates are not meant to be separated, Jack.” His voice is low so the hostages can’t hear them. 

“I know.” Jack swallows, fighting his instincts and trying to pull away, but Hanzo is  _ right there  _ and he’s an  _ alpha _ . 

The memory of Jesse in the kitchen and the snarled words sends Jack back to reality so fast. He snaps his head back and scrambles against the tile of the bathroom floor. His bones protest the quick movement. 

“You must tell Mercy.” Hanzo insists, “This is not normal.”

Jack grits his teeth, “It will  _ pass _ . You and Jesse are separated all the time.”

“Within reason.” Hanzo states, “However, we are in close proximity all other times. Your mate isn’t even in the same country as you.”

Jack lets out a whine at the reminder and he buries his face in his hands. His emotions are strung out like live wires, hissing along his nerve endings and screwing with his brain. Fatigue is hot on its tail and he only wants to curl up and sleep. 

Sleep and sleep until there’s nothing left. 

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


Five weeks was all he could stand. 

The caged monster under his skin could only take so much before it put him on edge. An edge he couldn’t shake no matter how many missions Talon sent him on. 

He  _ had _ to see Jack, no matter the consequences. 

Which brings him to the watchpoint at close to two am. The entire base is silent as far as he can tell, drifting quietly down the hallways. He follows Jack’s scent, softer now that the heat has passed, but still tangy and wholesome as ever. 

“Now come on sugar.” Jesse’s voice startles him into the shadows of an open closet as footsteps draw near. 

“It is late enough.” Gabe doesn’t recognize the second voice, but he watches as Jesse rounds the corner with an asian man at his side. They are both dressed in work-out gear, sweaty and obviously fresh from the training rooms. Jesse is wearing a toothy grin and the asian man is staring over at him in fond exasperation. 

“It’s only two, Hanzo!” Jesse lets out a laugh, “A quick night cap ain’t gonna hurt us darlin’.”

Hanzo lets out a fond chuckle, “We have a mission tomorrow.”

Jesse waves a hand, “Piece ‘o cake, we have Morrison  _ and  _ Lucio  _ and _ -” He pauses mid step and Hanzo stops as well. 

_ Fuck. _

Gabriel tries to sink deeper into the shadows, as if that would hide his scent from Jesse’s very perceptive nose. 

“What is it?” Hanzo frowns.

Jesse is scenting the air, Gabriel can tell and he clenches his fists in irritation. Now is  _ not _ the time, he needs to get to Jack-

“Nothin’ sweetheart.” Jesse switches gears and grins down at Hanzo, “I’m gonna head back to the kitchen and make us some tea,” Hanzo opens his mouth and Jesse presses a swift kiss to it, effectively silencing him, “Sleepy tea, I promise. No booze.”

Hanzo gives him a skeptical look, but relents and kisses Jesse again, “You have twenty minutes.” He pushes away from Jesse with a gentle hand to his pec and disappears down the hall.

_ Double fuck. _

Gabriel runs the options through his head, different means of escape, knocking Jesse out and leaving the base all together. 

“I know yer there.” Jesse’s voice is harsh, “I can smell ya.”

Gabriel lets out a hoarse laugh and steps out from the shadows, smoke billowing out from under the cape. The look on Jesse’s face would be funny if it wasn’t the expression of a man who'd just witness the dead come back to life. 

“I knew it.” Jesse croaks, taking a step back, “I  _ knew _ it was you.”

Gabriel frowns, “What are you-?”

Jesse points at him angrily, “I knew Jack smelt funny that night in the kitchen. He ain’t had a heat like that since you two called it quits! But he didn’t just reek of  _ heat _ he reeked of  _ you _ and-and-” He wrinkles his nose, “He smelt like a fucking graveyard.”

Gabriel winces at that.

“Then to top it all off-.” Jesse continues, “I smelt ya  _ again _ on tha base that night.” He lets out a wounded laugh, “I thought I was goin’ crazy, thought I was smellin’ you again because-fuck-” Jesse takes off his hat and crushes it in his fist, “Ana and Jack came back from the dead and I thought-hell maybe Gabe did too.”

“Surprise.” Gabriel grumbles.

Jesse’s face hardens at the sarcasm, “What the are you doin’ here Gabe?”

“What do  _ you _ think?” Gabriel snorts, waving a hand around.

“Jack.” Jesse states, “He’s been acting funny.”

Of course he has, Gabriel thinks angrily, they reestablished a bond on opposite sides of the playing field and now they’re both starving for contact. But they were both so stubborn. Jack could track down Los Muertos thugs and crush them in his palms, but he refused to track Gabriel down.  _ Stubborn.  _

Not that Gabriel was any better.

“You going to let me pass?” Gabriel asks.

“I shouldn’t.” Jesse scowls and Gabriel watches as the omega tries to make himself take up more space in the hallway. An alpha gesture that Gabriel himself taught Jesse to fool the enemy into thinking he was something other than an omega. Back then, they’d all had some form of suppressants to bring out into the field to mask scents, but even omegas defaulted to certain reactions. It had taken Gabriel almost a year to train Jesse into an omega that fought and acted like an alpha. 

Looking at him now, older and quite possibly mated to the man from earlier, Gabriel has never been more proud of anyone he’s ever trained. One omega protecting another. 

“You’re both blocking the hall.” 

Jesse slumps, “Oh come on Hana, how am I supposed to be threatening if ya just show up-.” He throws a hand out behind Gabriel, who turns to see the small korean girl in the bunny pajamas. “Wearing those pants!”

Hana looks down at her pants, “What’s wrong with my pants?” She looks back up at them and Gabriel notices she’s holding a white convient store bag full of candy bars and a container that smells suspiciously of soup.

“You know,” She starts, “If you’re going to keep sneaking onto the base, you gotta stop getting caught.” 

“Maybe your security system is shit.” Gabriel snaps, scowling down at her.

She snorts and holds out the plastic bag, “Oh I hacked Athena ages ago so you wouldn’t trigger the alarm.” 

Jesse slaps his face, “ _ Hana _ .”

“What?” She asks defensively, “He’s Jack’s  _ mate _ , angry psychopath or not Jack needs him.”

“I’m not a-.” Gabriel beings irritably, but Jesse lets out a wheeze of a sigh and groans so loud it cuts his sentence off. 

Hana is still trying to hand him the bag, “What is that  _ for _ ?” He hisses.

She shakes it, “It’s for Jack. Duh.” Her head tips impishly to the side, “You’re going to see him, aren’t you?”

“No he’s not.” Jesse’s voice is like a whip, “Jack don’t need anymore stress.” 

“Wow.” Hana rolls her eyes, “Do you want to be the one to explain that one? Because when you use the words ‘stress’ and ‘Jack’ in the same sentence, he’s going to punch you.” 

Jesse balls one fist, “You’re leaving.” He points at Gabriel.

“The hell I am.” Gabriel hisses and now he’s angry, smoke oozing out like slick as he rounds on his protege. Jesse takes a hesitant step back, startled by the anger, but only for a moment because he meets Gabriel tit for tat. 

“You can have this fight  _ later _ .” Hana hisses, shoving Jesse back with a hand to his chest, “Get lost before one of the other alphas scent you.” She looks over at Gabriel and she doesn't need to tell him twice. 

He dissolves around them and searches for Jack’s room. When he arrives, the lights are off under the door and he wonders if he should just leave. Leave the base like Jesse told him too. The pacing monster inside of him says otherwise and he enters the room silent as smoke.

Not silent enough because there’s a fist connecting with his face the moment he materializes in the middle of Jack’s room.

“What the fuc-.”

“ _ Gabe _ ?” Jack hisses and his warm hands cup the sides of Gabriel’s biceps to keep him from falling backward from the punch. 

Gabriel holds his nose, knowing that it will knit itself back together in a few moments, but damn it stings, “Do you punch everyone who comes into your room?” 

“Normal people knock.” Jack snorts.

His hands slip down and bare feet pad away before the room is flooded with artificial light. Gabe blinks in annoyance before turning to face Jack. 

Anger is the first emotion he feels at the sight of him. Sadness is the next. Then guilt, regret, all swirling in the pit of his stomach like acid. Jack looks like he hasn’t slept in  _ weeks _ . His cheeks are hollow and his eyes are circled and red. He even smells exhausted, his usual scent masked and flat.

Jack gives him a tired smile, faded eyes dipping down to the bag hanging limp in his left hand. He can’t take his eyes away from the exhausted lines of Jack’s face. His age shows in a way that makes Gabriel’s heart bleed. 

“Smells like chicken soup.” Jack murmurs, stepping forward and removing the bag gently from Gabriel’s hand. This close, Gabe can smell the sickness on him and he nearly recoils at the scent of it. Razor sharp and sour, clinging to Jack like a second skin. “Been a little under the weather.” Jack sets the bag on the table by his bed and pulls the food out, setting it all in a neat assembly line along the top. 

“You look like shit.” He glides up behind Jack, hands out to slip over the skin of Jack’s bare shoulders. His skin forms goosebumps under Gabriel’s palms and the omega shivers at his touch, a soft, wounded moan rumbling free. He dips his nose forward to nuzzle at the mark on Jack’s neck, mock biting it gently, allowing Jack to tip his head and give him more room to work. 

The bond settles and hums through him. He can tell that it does the same for Jack because the omega goes pliant, hands limp beside the food and body relaxing against Gabe’s chest. He opens his mouth along that pale neck and leaves a trail of wet kisses up to his jawline, savoring every whimper and keen that falls from Jack’s mouth. It’s a symphony of sounds and smells, the sour scent of sickness and exhaustion mixes in with his normal honey over ice. Gabe’s stomach rumbles with hunger, but it isn’t sexual.

The heat is comforting instead of horny. It runs like a river of warm syrup through his veins, comforting and flooding him with memories. 

The first time they mated, Gabriel’s mark on his neck and their officer quarters reeking of heat sex and pheromones, this had happened. Hours after Jack’s biology cooled off, Gabriel had laid him out on his bed and scented Jack for the remainder of the evening. 

He does that now, leading Jack away from the food, whispering promises of hand feeding it to him later. Later, much later, after he has the omega relaxed and riddled with bonding hormones. Jack goes willingly, allowing Gabriel to lay them both on the bed. He lets Jack curl up into his armpit, bone white hair tickling his shoulder and Jack’s mouth pressed to the fabric of his shirt. 

“Rest,  _ mi luna. _ ” He murmurs when Jack shifts restlessly.

“I have to ask you something.” Jack insists and Gabriel casts his eyes down to stare into the faded blue, “Did you ever want-.” He swallows visibly, “Did you ever want kids?”

For one moment, when he’d met Jack in SEP, all blonde and brilliant. A split second that made him wonder what a young between them would be like. Then again when they’d been on a rooftop in Dorado, sharing wine and kisses and ignoring the circumstances that would one day tear them apart. 

“No.” He grunts, “We’ve always been soldiers. It could have never worked anyway.” 

Jack chuckles and returns to rubbing his face into Gabriel’s shirt, “Yea, I always thought that way too.”

Gabriel frowns, “Feeling sentimental?” 

“A little.” Jack mumbles, “Angela may have fussed at me.” 

Gabriel shrugs, “She doesn't have a reason to fuss. All the junk they pumped into us would have made all of us infertile anyway.” He trails his fingers down Jack’s spine, watching the smoke of his body curl over the skin of his sides, “Too old for that shit anyway.”

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


“ _ 76 where are you?! _ ” 

Jack raises his head from where he’s vomited quite spectacularly all over an alley in Kings Row to scowl at a brick wall. His stomach in still quivering, dry heaves in his chest, and his entire body feels like it’s been hit by a semi. It’s been almost two weeks of constant vomiting and general exhaustion and goddamn it he just wants to  _ sleep _ -

“ _ 76! _ ” Winston snaps over the coms. 

He wipes his mouth with the back of his gloved hand and pushes away from the wall to find the team. “Five minutes out.” He croaks out, stumbling along the porches of the old buildings and regretting his decision to go on this op. 

A fancy suit needed escort through and apparently Overwatch caters to rich pricks now. However, when Winston said the man could be a potential asset to Talon if captured, Jack didn’t have a choice but to make himself look human and join them. Even Angela was convinced that he was good, but she also was still unaware of the vomiting and exhaustion. 

All bloodwork told her was his levels were fine. He was back in the green for all levels of a healthy omega.

This was just a side effect of a bond strung too tight over too long a period. Nothing he could do about that.

He spots the group near the armored limo and Tracer shoots him an exaggerated wave as he draws near. Jesse’s nose wrinkles the closer he gets and his mouth opens, but one scathing look from Jack pops his jaw back into place. 

“You reek.” Angela’s tone holds no room for argument.

Jack frowns, “I’m fine.”

“No, you are not.” She steps forward, her face flitting from angry to concerned, one of her hands reaches out to press to the skin of his cheek, “You are sick. I am sending you back to the evac point.” Her wings flare, “I should have checked you before we left.”

“It’s been over a month.” Jack grounds out, “I’m  _ fine. _ None of this has ever gotten in the way of me doing my  _ job. _ ” He waves a hand at the limo, “I can escort a simple-.” He pauses, peers into the tint of the limo through his visor. There’s no movement from inside, just the driver in the front seat. He nudges past Angela, “Somethings wrong.”

“What?” Tracer’s head pops up over the other side of the limo.

“Jack-.” Angela begins, but he puts a hand up to silence them all and reaches for the door handle of the limo. He pops the handle and only hears the final beeps of the waiting bomb due to sheer luck.

“Scatter!” He shouts, twisting away from the limo, snatching Angela around the waist and shoving her down a thin walkway surrounded by brick. The explosion rocks the ground beneath them and Jack stumbles face first into the ground, arms aching from the impact and back burning from the heat and debris. 

He shakes it off as quickly as he can, pushing back to his feet in one smooth move to check the damage. Angela is hovering in the alley opening, eyes wide and waiting. Jack can see Tracer helping Jesse up, dusting off his serape with an agitated grunt. 

It’s then that Talon descends on them. They come from the sky and ooze from the cracks in the alleys, guns raised. Jack nudges Angela back, keeping her from sight as four talon grunts surround Tracer and Jesse. He scans the surrounding buildings, spotting Widowmaker on the south side, sights aimed at him. 

_ Trap _ , he thinks in panic,  _ always a fucking trap. _

The hostages. The limo. Even the hotel room. 

All traps.

His stomach twists with nausea again but he fights it down. He can’t lose it right now, he  _ can’t _ . He needs to keep his shit together just long enough to get them all out of this colossal mess.

“Winston, we’re compromised _.” _ He hears Angela hiss into the coms.

“ _ What do they want? _ ” Winston hisses, “ _ What’s the point of all this?” _

Jack doesn't know yet, he’s still trying to piece it together. The grunts are poking Jesse with the tips of their guns, barking orders. Jesse’s barking back, teeth bared and hand twitching towards peacekeeper at his side. Tracer is flicking her tongue out at the nearest one.

Jack flanks around the burning corpse of the limo, knowing that Widowmaker is following his every more. That’s all she does though and he frowns as her sights follow him. She doesn’t alert the other talon members and she doesn’t shoot.  

“You will tell us where the other omega is.” The largest of the talon grunts snaps once Jack is within range. 

“Like hell.” Jesse snaps, “What tha hell does Talon want with us anyway.”

“Not your concern.” He replies, shoving Jesse’s shoulder, then motioning to another grunt, “Tie them up. Find the other two. We need the other omega.”

Jack hunkers down behind the flames. That would be him. 

“Whatcha need omegas for?” Tracer’s happy-go-lucky tone of voice makes the leader grit his teeth.

“We do not need multiples. We just need the one.” He glances over at the remaining member who isn’t tying someone up, “Find the soldier.” 

Jack waits until he turns away to strike, pouncing from the flames and smacking the leader in the back of the head. Jesse swivels around and elbows his own grunt in the gut and wrenches his bonds loose as though they were nothing. He pulls the revolver from his hip and the grunt goes down in one shot.

Tracer zips away from her own and lets Jesse handle the clean up. She heads for the remaining one, who is making his way towards the alley where their healer is hiding. Jack yanks the leader up by the back of his collar and aims his pulse rifle at his face.

“Looking for me?” He snarls down at him.

The leader’s grin is nasty, condescending, “Ever the hero, Morrison.”

Jack frowns, “Wha-.”

“ _ Jack _ !” Jesse bellows.

It’s too late. 

The blast hits him from behind and sends him toppling forward. His body burns from it, searing along his spine like a brand. His eyes water from the pain, his stomach roils. The leader of the grunts rolls away with a laugh.

“ _ Jack! _ ” Angela’s scream echoes over the flames.

His vision doubles, then triples and he tries to roll over, tries to see his attacker. 

He regrets it.

Reaper stands over him, white mask menacing and bright. The shotgun in his taloned hand is out and aimed at Jack. 

A low whine tears from him, his heart clenches in agony and it’s worse than the burning of his back. He can’t even find it in himself to stand up again and fight back. He drops his shoulders and presses his forehead against the soot covered concrete and lets his heart bleed out on the street.

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


The explosion is what draws him out of hiding. Widowmaker alerts him of the detonation moments after it rocks the small house he’s inside. He lets out a colorful curse and walks to the window, taking in the scene. 

Talon is already crawling across the courtyard, cornering McCree and Tracer. He spots Jack and Angela hiding near an alley, “Keep an eye on 76.” He orders.

“ _ Oui. Will you be extracting him on your own?” _

He switches his com, “Sombra. You read?”

“ _ Loud and clear, Gabriella. _ ” He rolls his eyes at the nickname.

“When I hit the courtyard, scramble Widow’s sights.” 

“ _ Righto. _ ” She replies and he can hear the hesitation, “ _ Are you sure about this?” _

“They know Jack is an omega and a super soldier, what do  _ you  _ think they want him for?” He hisses.

“ _ I thought you were all infertile.” _

“I’m not even going to ask how you got records on the SEP.” He grumbles, watching the scene unfold beneath him. 

Her cackle is his reply and he switches back to the open com just in time to listen to Widowmaker call him a few choice words for ignoring him. He merely grins and slips through the window, coming to a stop feet away from where Jack is holding the leader by his shirt. 

This is his cue. This is where he makes the cockroach sneering up at his mate think he’s still loyal to Talon. 

Oh, but Gabriel knows this man well.

He’s  _ the  _ cockroach. 

The wretch who turned his mate against him. Who turned  _ him _ against Jack. 

“ _ EMP active! _ ”

He lifts his shotgun in mock preparation to ‘shoot’ Jack, but someone gets to there first. The blast is blinding and sends Jack skittering to the ground with a rough shout. The cockroach scrambles away and Gabriel doesn’t have time to find out  _ who _ shot Jack because Jack is  _ down _ . Jack is struggling to hold himself up and the first thing he’s going to see is  _ Gabriel  _ standing above him.

_ Again _ .

It plays out just as he thinks it will, with Jack’s body slumping in defeat and the cockroach letting out a victory laugh. The cockroach levels his own weapon at Jesse when he tries to get to Jack, worry etched into the lines of his face. 

“Nice shot, Reaper.”

Gabriel grunts once and lowers his shotgun, waiting patiently.

“ _ Twenty seconds left.” _

He can’t tell if Jack’s alright. He doesn’t know if Mercy and Tracer have the other talon agent handled. He can’t see anything but Jack, laying face down in black ash and debris, back burned to hell.  

He lifts his masked face to stare at the cockroach, “I’ll handle it from here.” The cockroach goes to make a speech, probably to crow about their victory. Gabriel doesn’t let him get that far. His fist meets the cockroaches face and the man hits the ground like a ton of bricks. It’s immensely satisfying. 

Angela beats them to Jack, her wings bright and in Gabriel’s face as she swoops in and inspects Jack’s back with shaking hands.

“We need to get him out of here.”

“ _ Ten seconds.” _

“We need to go.” Gabriel pushes past Angela. He reaches down to scoop Jack’s limp form up, one arm under his legs and the other under his back. Being an undead super soldier has its perks, he supposes. 

“We don’t need your help.” Angela lifts her chin at him.

“I come with him.” Gabriel growls, “ _ Beta _ .”

She recoils with a glare, but has no choice but to relent. He is the one with Jack in his arms. Tracer zips past them, “This way love!”

He follows, gliding across the street and listening as Angela hisses into their com channel. Jesse catches up with him, spurs jingling and eyes twitching back and forth. 

“Speak.” Gabriel grunts.

“You didn’t shoot him.” Jesse is frowning.

“Never planned to.” 

It seems enough of an answer that Jesse nods and falls back to Angela. 

Gabriel glances down at Jack’s unconscious form, limp in his arms and blood seeping through the fabric of his cloak. 

“ _ Widowmaker online. What was that? Reaper. Where are you? _ ” 

“Omega secured.” Gabriel monotones, “Regroup.” He pulls the com from his ear and tosses it onto the ground. Jesse crushes it under his boot with a wry grin. 

“Winston is sending a team in to recover the leader.” Angela informs, “Now we have two Talon agents and no way to get information from them.” 

Gabriel doesn’t reply. He keeps his gaze focused on Tracer’s blue form, bouncing faster and faster towards the transport hovering near the edge of the city. He just needs to reach it. He just needs to-

“Jack’s vitals are off the chart.” Angela hisses, hurrying up beside him.

“He’s been sick for weeks.” Jesse snaps, “Of course his vitals are going to be off the chart and he’s just been shot!”

“No!” She snaps as they board the transport, “Something else is wrong.” Gabriel lays Jack out on a spare table and lets Angela hover and fuss, hands poking and prodding. Tracer brings back some spare medical equipment. 

“Sick.” She hisses at Jesse, “Sick how?” 

Gabriel watches as her hands make quick work in divesting Jack of his signature Jacket. His chest is littered with scars, some that Gabriel remembers, others that are new. He hadn’t had much time to actually  _ look _ during their last few encounters. 

“Lotta vomiting, Hanzo said.” Jesse mumbles.

“Tired. Weak.” Gabriel informs and something like dread pools in his stomach, “No.” He shakes his head, looking up from Jack to Angela- whose face grows paler by the second, “ _ No _ . It’s not possible.”

Her eyes close slowly, “I didn’t check his last three bloodworks for HGC.”

“What tha fuck is that?” Jesse frowns.

“The  _ pregnancy _ hormone.” Angela explains frantically.

A collective chorus of ‘fucks’ echoes through the transport and Tracer shouts for the pilot to kick it up a notch. 

Gabriel stares down at Jack through his mask, too afraid to shed it and show how utterly ruined he feels. Jesse puts a hand on his shoulder, squeezes. Angela rushes around them, trying to feel at Jack’s stomach, shouting at Tracer to make sure Lucio has the medical bay prepped for their return. 

“If he’s-” Gabriel scrambles for words.

Angela’s hands curl into fists against the table, blue eyes watery and face pains, “Gabriel, Gabriel his  _ age _ -.” She shakes her head, “The injury-I can try but-.” 

“Ten minutes out!” The pilot shouts.

It’s the longest ten minutes of Gabriel’s life. By the time they land, Jack is being whisked away and a very angry Gorilla is meeting Gabriel at the front door. It’s a pissing contest of Alpha versus Alpha and Jesse has to shove his body against Gabriel’s to keep him from attacking the new head of Overwatch.

Winston points at him, “He doesn’t get past my doors!”

“That’s  _ my mate _ , you over grown baboon!” Gabriel snarls, teeth bared and allowing the scent of his anger permeate the air around them, “You  _ will _ let me see him or I’ll tear you apart!”

“I’d like to see you try.” Winston bares right back, fangs snapping and eyes red, “No member of Talon walks through  _ my  _ halls!”

Jesse pushes harder against his chest, the metal hand tearing into his side. 

“Jack might be pregnant, Winston.” Tracer whispers and just like that the testosterone driven air floods away. Winston seems to deflate, finger pointed and hand hanging in the air like a limp noodle. 

The gorilla takes a step from the door and Jesse lets Gabriel go. He leaves them behind, single-mindedly rushing towards the medbay. Lucio opens the door, but he keeps a hand to Gabriel’s chest and he snaps down at him. The medic doesn’t even flinch, “He’s awake. But he doesn’t want to see you.”

“No.” Gabriel shakes his head, “Jack!”

“Do not distress my patient!” Angela snarls from behind a white curtain. 

“Look. This is gonna take some time.” Lucio shakes his head sadly, “You need to wait outside.”

“I need to be there with him.” Gabriel hisses.

“He doesn’t want you.” Lucio pushes with his hand and he may as well rip his heart out while he’s at it. Gabriel sags, smoke falling around him like a waterfall.

“Please.” He doesn’t like to beg. He’s never  _ had _ to beg.

“Sorry big guy.” Lucio mutters and Gabriel watches as the med-bay doors slide shut. 

He rams his body against them almost as soon as they close. Alpha instincts roaring at the metal wall separating him from his  _ possibly pregnant mate. _ He scraps his talons down the length of it, trying to rip his way through. 

“Fuckin’ hell, Gabe!” Jesse’s voice sounds too far away, he keeps clawing at the door even with the cowboy’s hands grip at his arms.

He lets out a wounded cry; sinking down to the ground in an explosion of black smoke. He feels one of Jesse’s hands find his shoulder in the storm of himself. 

_ Exploit at all costs. _

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


Jack floats in and out of consciousness for hours. Or at least it feels that way because one moment he’s staring up at Gabriel’s mask, the next he’s in his arms, then with Angela hovering and the sound of the transport humming. When he wakes the third time, he’s in med-bay at the watchpoint and Lucio is holding his hand with a worried smile.

“I gottcha big guy.”

“Wha-?” He tries to move his head but pain laces up his spine. The blast to his back-Gabriel standing above him with his shotgun out all comes rushing back. 

Angela presses a hand to his chest when he tries to sit up, “Jack. Jack. I need you to listen to me.” He struggles against her hand, her voice is too watery, something’s wrong.

“What’s going on?” He hisses.

“Jack.” Angela’s blue eyes hover before him, “You-.” 

“Gabe shot me-.” Jack shakes his head, “Gabe-.”

“Jack you were pregnant.” Lucio delivers the news with a wavering voice and Angela lets out a soft, wounded sound. 

Jack inhales sharply and it doesn’t help the pain in his back, “No. No I can’t-.”

“You were.” The hand on his chest gentles.

“ _ Were _ .” Jack croaks and he falls back against the bed. His head is spinning and his chest is tight, too tight with emotion and everything seems to stall. 

“It’s my fault.” Angela bables. “I should have continued to look for the hormone, it was probably late because you’re male. The stress from missions, the sickness, the  _ bond _ , and oh god Jack.” She lets out a sob, “The injury-.”

_ The injury sealed it. _

Jack closes his eyes slowly, his body numb and tingling. 

“I have to do surgery.” Angela whispers and her voice is wet around the words, “I have to-.”

Jack tilts his head away from her, “Just do it.”

“I’ll go tell your mate, yea?” Lucio offers hesitantly.

A new sort of numbness takes him, but also surprise, “Gabe’s here?”

“In the hall. Ruining our door.” Lucio frowns, “Jesse says someone else shot you.”

Relief floods through Jack and despite the empty, hollow feeling in his chest, he gives Lucio a weak smile, “Yea.” Something warm enters through the IV in his hand and his brain tries to fuzz out on him, “Tell him I’m sorry.”

Lucio leaves his side with a nod and the curtain swishes shut. Everything goes technicolor, he can feel Angela’s hands on his stomach, petting gently. He feels like he’s floating and the pain in his back is nearly gone, just an itch now. 

An anguished roar startles them both and Jack is just aware enough to feel the guilt and the sadness pierce him from Gabriel’s cry.

Then he’s engulfed in black. 

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


The surgery takes two hours and Gabriel spends all of it in agony. He doesn’t even bother keeping his form up. The smoke coats the watchpoint hallway like oil slick and he doesn’t care. He keeps what’s left of his back against the opposite wall, waiting for the music medic to open them back up. 

Jesse is at his side, puffing at a cigar, hat resting on his knee, “New bonds are tricky.” He mutters and it falls flat between them. Gabriel doesn’t want to hear it, but Jesse continues, “Hanzo and I had a scare, you know. Never took, but shit Gabe, we’re too old. I’m damn near where Jack is too.” He takes a long drag, exhales slowly, “You severed a bond and then tried to put it back together with duct tape.”

Gabriel knows. He  _ knows. _

The doors slide open with a hiss and Lucio slips out and down the hall. Gabriel tries to pull himself into some form of his old self to face Angela, who looks tired and broken. 

“It’s done.” She whispers, “You can go in now. Just-.” A sharp inhale, “Just be careful of the incision site. I’ll be back later to check on him.” 

He waits until her footsteps disappear down the hall before materializing to his own. Jesse pats his shoulder and makes himself scarce as well. 

Gabe takes a hesitant step into the med-bay, shedding his mask and cloak and weapons along the way. He spots Jack in a bed by the window, staring out at the setting sun beyond the ocean. A cup of water is held between his hands, resting on the fabric of a white hospital shirt. His head turns to Gabriel as though sensing him. 

He scents the air and only smells blood and ice, the hint of medical equipment. Everything else is Jack’s despair, tinging the air like lightning. 

He waits at Jack’s bedside, those old eyes watching him from an old, scarred face. Jack’s lip quivers and he puts out a hand. 

Gabriel takes it and crawls into the bed, hovering over Jack’s legs. He takes his mates hips between his hands and finds that they are shaking. Jack’s own cover them, gentle, but no steadier.

“I lost it.” Jack whispers.

Gabriel nods once, stares into Jack’s eyes, “Jack-.”

Jack turns his head away, returning to stare out the window, “I wanted to retire with you.” He begins and Gabriel’s breath hitches, “I was going to spend the rest of my life with you. I wanted a  _ family _ with you, Gabe.” Those lips quiver again and his heart  _ breaks _ , “I was prepared to step down to have young.” The admission shocks him,  because Jack- who had been so focused on his career. Jack who had laughed the mention of ‘settling down with children’ off every time someone mentioned it. 

Jack takes a deep breath, “I hadn’t wanted any of it until I met you.”

Gabriel lets out a whimper, bowing his head over Jack’s stomach, “This is all my fault.”

“Not all of it.” One of Jack’s hands curl into his hair, “We both shoulder the blame, Gabe.”

“I should have never thrown you out of my room.” Gabriel mutters, “I should have listened to you. I should have believed you because-.” He shakes his head, clenches his eyes shut, “Oh  _ carino. _ ” He gently rolls the white shirt up to reveal the thin, sown scar across Jack’s abdomen. “Oh  _ mi luna _ .”

“Just another addition to the collection.” Jack spits bitterly. 

Gabriel uses his thumbs to caress the outer edges of what will be a prominent scar. Jack’s stomach quivers under his touch, the hand in his hair tightens, almost as if to yank Gabriel away. 

“You going to tell me what happened out there?” Jack whispers.

Gabriel shakes his head, “Not yet.” He whispers it against the scar, “Mourn with me,  _ mi amor. _ ” He takes a deep breath and lets it waver, can hear the soft hitch in Jack’s own breathing, “When you recover, I’ll tell you.” 

Jack’s hand slips out of his hair and Gabriel glances up at him. His mate leans back against the bed, the heels of his hands pressed against his eyes. Gabe watches the heave of his chest and the roll of tears down the sides of his face. 

Gabriel presses a kiss to the scar.

They mourn together.

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


“Can’t get anything out of him.” Jesse cusses, “Fuckin’ useless.”

“Patience.” Hanzo’s voice accompanies him, “He has to break at some point.” 

“Yea, well I want to know what the hell he wanted with Morrison.” 

Gabriel waits them out, back pressed to the wall of the holding cells. The two have been bickering back and forth for fifteen minutes and he’s losing his patience with them. Jesse had been in and out of the room, leaving with a string of cuss words every time. Hanzo had fared no better.

“I’m gonna go tell Winston.” Jesse lets out a sigh. 

His boots jingle until he rounds another part of the hallway and then silence.

“I know you are there.” Hanzo’s voice is hostile and Gabe can understand that. He reveals himself and attempts to make his entrance look as scary as possible, but the elder Shimada stares at him blankly. 

“Jesse thinks he is clever, trying to hide you from me.” Hanzo murmurs, eyeing Gabriel with something akin to distaste, “But you are more of a father than anything else to him.”

Gabriel doesn’t reply.

Just waits.

Hanzo motions to the cell, “Would you like a go?”

He doesn’t answer again, just steps to the door, makes his boots prominent. He wants the cockroach to squirm. 

“Make sure to leave him alive at least.” Hanzo gives him a half smile, “You’re not the only one who wants a go at him.”

The archer follows in the direction Jesse left and leaves Gabriel alone to face the cell door.  He thinks of Jack, curled up in his bed a few floors up. The soft, disappointed keen that he made when Gabriel climbed out. He thinks of the scar across Jack’s abdomen and the crushed hope of a young because this-this  _ stain _ decided that Talon needed to  _ exploit _ them at all costs.

They could have retired together. They could have had a family and a house and a  _ life. _

He pushes the door to the room open and the man is slumped in a chair, head lolling and left cheek battered. There’s blood dried from his nose, most likely from Gabriel’s own fist. The man glances up at him and snarls.

“You traitorous fucking-!”

Gabriel levels a shotgun to his head and the man pales, eyes wide in terror. “So you’re the cancer behind the fall of Overwatch.” He isn’t much to look at, older now, perhaps, with graying hair and wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. 

“I believe that honor goes to you.” The roach sneers.

Gabriel lifts an eyebrow behind his mask, “You think so?”

“Oh I know who you are, _ Reyes _ .” The man laughs, “I ain’t tell you a fucking thing.”

Gabriel lets out a laugh as well and it echoes around the room, hoarse and frightening, “I don’t need you to.”

He pulls the trigger.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is officially an open fic once more. There's an actual plot line now and whew.
> 
> I hope you're all ready for this.


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a while, I apologize. I took a week off to get my stuff in order. 
> 
> **Additional warnings:**  
>  Mentioned Mchanzo  
> Mentioned Reincio  
> Omega cuddling threesome (meaning three of our omegas do some cuddling because I'm a giant sap sap sap)

**Five**

  
  


 

Worn, rough fingers skimmed the raised flesh of the scar across his pale abdomen. The pink edges are gone, replaced with white, tight lines. It no longer twinges across his stomach. Instead the ache is elsewhere, harsh and cold inside his chest. 

Jack tugs his black undershirt down to cover it, tucking it into the lining of his cargo pants. It disappears and with it the chasm split wide inside of him. If he doesn’t look at it, maybe he can forget that it’s there, for just a little while.

There’s a soft knock on his door and Jack turns to it, clicking his visor into place as he twists around. The door slides open as he shrugs his jacket on and Hana is standing there, bag slung over her shoulder and head tilted, “You ready to go?”

“Is everyone else ready?” He inquires, stepping out into the hallways beside her.

“Yep. We have Genji and Hanzo with us this round.” She informs, ticking names off of her fingers, “We don’t have a healer going in though.” A frown mars her features, “Which I’m totally against, by the way, just because Reaper said the location was empty doesn’t mean we should go in without support.”

“I don’t make the calls anymore.” Jack shrugs one shoulder, “I’ve got extra biotics just in case.”

“Cool.” She still doesn’t sound assured.

Hanzo and Genji are waiting in the flight bay, both talking quietly, hands motioning this way and that. As they approach, Hanzo sends Jack a questioning look, but never asks the question. They don’t really need to voice it anymore. 

It’s been a month since the surgery. A month since Jack broke down and forced himself back together. One long, exhausting month since Gabriel pressed a longing kiss to his lips, executed their prisoners and disappeared into the night. 

He’s kept in touch, sure. His last communication was a small flash drive delivered to Winston and Sataya. Said flashdrive gave the locations of every deactivated Talon base in the world. Something they were utilizing in order to find the  _ actual _ headquarters. 

A long shot at most, but still closer than they’ve ever been. 

They’ve been running on rumors for so long, it’s a refreshing change to have actual coordinates for bases, active or not.

The first location is tucked between a mountain range. The rocky peaks are capped in ice and fresh snow, trees nearly shed of leaves. The wind whips harshly against any exposed skin as they disembark and trudge through ankle deep snow. 

The base is indeed, empty. 

Jack slips inside first, rifle drawn and sights aglow. Hanzo finds higher ground in the trees overlooking the hidden entrance. Genji sticks to Jack’s six, Hana stands guard inside the doorway. 

The first room is a small bay area filled with various snow vehicles. Everything is covered in a mixed layer of ice and dust. It smells stale and sharp like freezer burn. Jack can taste it on his tongue as they travel deeper into the facility. 

No cameras are mounted, no motion detectors along the floor. The hallways are empty and short, leading to emptier rooms and dead ends. Genji’s footsteps are nearly muted, even in the empty rooms. He is a silent, comforting presence at Jack’s back. Jack knew that now more than ever he needed the nearly neutral scent of a beta over the overbearing pity every Alpha emitted around him.  Alpha sadness practically reeked of saltwater, all except for Gabriel’s, which always smelt bittersweet and nauseating. 

Genji smelt like clean linen. 

It was one of the reasons why Jack requested him specifically. Despite the augmentations of the cyborgs body, Genji still remained a beta through and through and had the most neutral, comforting scent of them all. 

“How’s the perimeter?” Jack asks.

“ _ Quiet. _ ” Is Hanzo’s soft reply. 

“Roger.” Jack takes a sharp left and finally comes in contact with a control room. 

It’s messy, with metal cabinets upturned and broken monitors. Paper is strew every which way, ink smeared from condensation and quite possible the melting of ice over time. He kicks a box as an afterthought. 

“I doubt there is any power.” Genji sighs, walking over to one of the computers and pressing the button. 

“ _ Maybe there’s a generator somewhere? _ ” Hana suggests, “ _ Want me to look? _ ”

Jack mulls it over for a moment, before agreeing, “The base looks empty. Be careful. Update frequently.”

“ _ Aye aye, sir _ !” Is her cheerful reply. 

He watches Genji continue his scan of the room, running metal fingers over keyboards and monitors. Jack keeps to the door, peeking out into the hallway every few minutes and listening for updates from Hana. 

It takes about twenty minutes for her to find one, but eventually he gets an excited, “ _ Found one! Not a lot of gas in it, pretty old too _ .”

“It will do what we need it to.” Genji affirms, motioning with his hand at Jack. 

Jack hands the flash drive hidden in one of his pouches over. 

There a sputter and a whine from Hana’s end of the comm before a loud, gurgling roar follows. The lights flicker a few times, dim from the lack of voltage, but the computers do their job and flare to life. A few of them sizzle out like a spark, but two remain live, screens blue and booting up. 

“Well,” Genji takes a breath, “Here goes nothing.” And plugs the drive into the slot provided on a tower under one of the computers. The screen flickers three times before a white skull pops up on the screen.

“ _ -ello?” _

Jack and Genji share a dubious look before Jack asks, “Who is this?”

“ _ Eyo! Is this the mysterious 76? _ ” The voice is a woman’s, heavily accented and haughty. Jack remembers it from his hotel encounter.

Jack frowns down at the computer screen, “Who’s asking?”

“ _ No need to be so suspicious. _ ” She cackles, “ _ We’ve met before. _ ”

Jack tips his chin up slowly, “Sombra.”

“ _ Got it in one. Nice. _ ” She clears her throat, “ _ No Gabbi. Left. Left. He’s coming up the stairwell. Hey! I got your mate on the line, any words? _ ”

Jack’s heart does a somersault at the mention of Gabriel. It’s been  _ weeks _ since Jack has heard from him or hell, even seen him. Of course, it’s logical. Gabriel has to be careful and conscious of his choices while doing the double agent deed, but Jack-

Jack needs him most days.

Sombra makes a gagging sound, “ _ Gabriel says ‘soon, mi corazon. _ ’” She wretches, “ _ You’re both gross. Okay, switching channel off. _ ” The skull on the computer screen fades in and out as Jack listens to Sombra type hurriedly on the other end. “ _ Eh. Still not much of a lead. This place has been abandoned a lot longer than I figured. Ah-ha! _ ” 

“Who is she talking to?” Genji asks.

“ _ You have been gone for a good while. _ ” Hanzo murmurs over the comms, “ _ Something best left to ask another time. _ ”

“Where is the next one?” Jack sighs.

“ _ Still decrypting.” _

“ _ I like her. _ ” Hana beams over the comms and Jack can hear her Meka making the trek back up to the entrance of the facility. 

“ _ Uploading the location to the drive. Good luck, Overwatch. Sombra out! _ ” 

The skull blips out with obvious flair and Genji plucks the drive from the computer. He flips it over in the palm of his hand, “It is not a trap?” He inquires, “You are sure?”

“I trust Gabriel.” Jack replies, leading them back out into the hallway. He has to trust Gabriel now. They all do. 

Having a man  _ inside _ of Talon is better than having a thousand Overwatch members storming the castle. However, it comes at a cost. It would compromise Gabriel’s position to blurt out where the actual Talon base was. They would smell a rat and covers would get blown left and right.

Best left to a scavenger hunt led by soldiers.

“Exiting.” Jack informs as he spots D.VA taking up most of the double doors space. Her MEKA waves to him cheerfully and he gives a short wave back. 

As they exit the bunker and snow crunches under their shoes, Jack feels a hand fall to his shoulder. He turns to Genji, who manages to radiate worry even from behind his faceplate.

“You are alright?”

Not even close. Not even sort of. 

“As alright as I can be.” He states.

“To be expected.” Genji nods solemnly, “May I suggest speaking to my master?”

Jack furrows his brow behind the visor, “Why?”

Genji takes a measured breath, “You are no doubt in turmoil, my friend. Your agony can be smelt from a great distance.”

Jack physically recoils at that. He’d been trying so hard to suppress it. 

“Zenyatta has a patient ear and an empathetic heart. Even if you do not speak to him. Perhaps some form of meditation will help?” 

The snow is cold even through his boots and mountain wind blows across the top of his head. Everything is cold and empty and barren. Much like his body now. 

A bad mate. Unable carry a young to term. 

Unable to  _ do anyth- _

“Think on it.” Genji interrupts his thoughts, “You only need to seek him out, should you wish for him.” 

He steps into the transport ahead of him, Jack continues to stand in the snow and wonders if burying himself under an avalanche would numb the pain.

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


Leaving Jack less than a week after losing their young was quite possibly the hardest thing Gabriel has ever had to do. Including throwing a distraught mate straight out of heat into the hallway without so much as a healthy break of bond. 

Jack had been in their bed, curled up in sheets that smelt of them both, watching Gabriel dress to leave. Those faded eyes had stared the entire time, even though he was sure Jack could only see a blur of him. Turning to tell him goodbye stung. 

The throaty, hoarse whine Jack emitted when Gabriel bent down to steal one last kiss wrenched something loose inside of him. Jack tore it out and curled up around the bloody mass of Gabriel’s heart. 

Because of course Gabriel had to leave that heart behind. He couldn’t take his love and longing for Jack back to Talon. Not if he wanted to take it down. 

He takes out the last russian agent before pausing in an abandoned hallway to check for lingering enemies. There are only the corpses and lingering souls of the men Gabriel has already taken out. No sign of their informant though.

“You sure this is the right place?” He grounds out.

“ _ You doubt me? _ ” Sombra snips, “ _ Don’t take that tone with me. Who was it that saved your ass from Widowmaker? _ ”

He isn’t going to admit it. 

Gabriel crushing his com and leaving the scene without so much as a rendezvous with Widowmaker and Sombra almost cost him his job with Talon. It would make tearing them down that much harder. 

Now, though, now he has Overwatch on his side. Even though he believes it should be long dead, six foot under the ground. It’s hard to turn away from something he spent over half of his life involved in.

What was it Jack said? Old habits die hard.

“ _ Heads up. _ ” Sombra alerts.

He looks up just as one of the russian agents drops down from some scaffolding. His talons scrape the flesh of the agents neck as his hand darts out just in time to catch him. A sharp hiss escapes the assailants mouth and Gabriel lets out a hoarse laugh behind his mask.

“Thought you could surprise me?” He knows tilting his head to the side gives the mask a more threatening look, “Think again.” 

The agents fingers skitter across the kevlar at his wrists as the words wheeze out of him, “Y-you’ll never-get-what-you-came-for!” 

“That so?” Gabriel drops him to his feet and pulls a shotgun out of thin air.

“N-no!” The agent's eyes go wide, “ _ NO please! _ ”

Gabriel doesn’t do begging. 

He pulls the trigger once and the agent crumples to the ground. With a derisive snort, he steps over the body, twirling the soul around in his free hand before consuming. The compound is mostly quiet, the alarm is still blaring.

“Take care of that.” He snaps into the comm.

“ _ Bossy. _ ” Sombra grouches, “ _ You should know your mate made it to the mountain base. _ ”

Gabriel allows himself a moment to grin, “Good. Give them what they need.”

“ _ Got it in one. Nice. No Gabbi. Left. Left. He’s coming up the stairwell. Hey! I got your mate on the line, any words? _ ” The question is offhanded, almost like an afterthought, but Gabriel knows her better than that. As a fella Alpha, she could probably hear any form of distress in Jack’s tone. 

Gabriel takes out the guard on the stairs flawlessly. 

He continues to glide up the many sets of stairs in his way, “Tell him ‘soon,  _ mi corazon _ .’” 

She gives a snort and her comm switches off for a second. 

“ _ He doesn't sound good. _ ”

Gabriel doesn’t expect him to sound good. Jack is probably reeking of depression, something like that doesn’t go away in a month or six months or years. It sticks with you for a long, long time. 

It left a hole in himself as well. A gaping, wide wound that refused to close even after he executed the one responsible for his child’s death. It left him empty, watching the cockroach slump over in the chair, blood pooling at its base. The remaining soul gave just enough information to get Gabriel where he was now. 

A russian group allied with Talon in taking down major government organizations. It seemed Talon’s main repertoire was infecting well-meaning groups with a virus and taking the entire thing down in flames. Or in Overwatch’s case, an entire building and three commanding officers.

It doesn’t take him long to clear out the base with its suspiciously light guards. Whatever this place was, it didn’t hold security to a high enough standard because getting information from their system was way too easy. 

“Think they knew we were coming?” He asks.

“ _ Beats me. Just make sure no one is left alive. Can’t have this little visit getting back to talon.” _

Gabriel snorts, “Just make sure to wipe the cameras.”

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


The smell of pancake syrup and bourbon hits Jack the second he steps into the watchpoint. Genji merely tilts his head to the side in mild curiosity, but Jack knows that scent. Jack’s known it the better part of ten years. 

Hanzo goes ramrod straight as he steps in behind them. He lets out a curse in japanese and pushes past them. 

“Something the matter?” Genji asks.

Jack pats him on the shoulder, “Jesse’s in heat.” 

He watches Hanzo disappear around a corner, gold ribbon whipping out of sight. Jesse’s a little earlier than expected, but that’s probably because Jack’s heat kicked it into overdrive. He winces in sympathy for Jesse, who's still a few years from his own fertility end. 

“A bit early, isn’t it?” Genji inquires as they make their way into the communal area. Lucio is at the stove with Hana, both moving around it with practiced ease. Fareeha is lounging on the sofa, a white medical mask over her face.

“Early for what?” Hana asks.

“Jesse to be in heat.” Genji replies, snatching a stool near the fruit bar. 

“Not a surprise.” Lucio frowns into the stew he’s making, “Jack’s weird chemical induced heat probably jump started Jesse’s biology. Omega’s competing for alphas and all that jazz.”

Fareeha grunts from the sofa, “Good news is, all the other Alphas are out.”

“How are you holding up?” Jack grunts.

Fareeha lifts a shoulder, eyes focused on the TV in front of her, “Kinda just smells blegh to me. Hanzo’s probably enjoying it though.” She wiggles her brows at Jack, who rolls his eyes and drops onto the sofa beside her. 

“I’m kinda glad I stayed a beta.” Lucio chuckled, “Must be hell for ya’ll. Just smells like a hot day to me.”

“Don’t get too excited.” Fareeha flicked an eyebrow up at him, “I didn’t present till I was 24. So much stress with my mama, pushed me back a bit.”

“Does it really work that way?” Hana inquires.

“Sometimes.” Jack replies, setting an arm over the back of the sofa, “I was 19, just shy of a year from when I was supposed to. Most SEP candidates were beta’s when they went in.” He glances back at the younger of the group, watching him from the kitchen, “They were hoping the serum would force us all into Alphas.”

Hana asks, “Was being an Omega some kind of deal breaker?”

“For some.” Jack nods. 

Many of the omega candidates backed out. Heats were too strenuous, no mates. Jack and one other stayed in. Jack’s glad he did, otherwise, he would have never mated Gabriel. He would have returned to wherever it was they sent candidates who backed out. Probably the grave, which he still avoids thinking about. 

The kids continue to talk quietly behind him, the smell of Lucio’s stew over powering Jesse’s sickly sweet heat scent. Fareeha asks him about the mission, but he’s not allowed to tell too many of the Overwatch members that they’re working with Reaper. She takes it in stride and with a quirked smirk.

“I remember Gabe’s scent, Jack.” She returns her gaze to the TV, “I know he’s been here.”

Jack let out a heavy sigh and drops his head back against the sofa, “You and Jesse both.” He isn’t surprised that he knew Gabe had been here, he’s just surprised it took her this long to confront him about it. Gabe was just as much a father figure to her as Jack, Jesse had no problem voicing his opinion at Gabe, Fareeha was like her mother.

She found the perfect time to strike.

“I am sorry.” Her voice lowers to a whisper and when Jack drops his head back to his chest, she’s watching him again. There’s a sad smile on her lips and he can feel her fingers on his shoulder. 

His stomach tightens and the empty feeling in his chest intensifies. He tries to stop his bottom lip from trembling, but it doesn’t listen and he finds himself closing his eyes to stem the threat of tears. Her fingers are cool and the comfort she radiates is typical of an Alpha. 

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine.” She states firmly, “You’re allowed to be sad, Jack. You’re allowed to take a break.”

Jack opens his eyes, the word is so out of focus, the whole room a blurry mess, “I can’t afford to stop.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Lucio calls out.

He stands to join them at the table, feeling his way along the cabinets to snatch a bowl. Lucio fills it up for him and he makes his way over to the table and takes a seat. Before long, the entire table is filled up with whoever is available at the watchpoint, sans Hanzo and Jesse. 

“We can bring them some later.” Jack states, “Make them a few bowls.” He nods in Lucio’s direction, who does something with his hand in reply. 

Angela and Winston join them, Torb comes in a little late, smelling strongly of grease. Rein comes in and with him the scent of rain. Jack lifts his head slowly and sniffs once, twice, tilts his head. 

“You too?” 

Rein lets out a hearty laugh and Jack can hear him making a bowl for himself, “I’m afraid Jesse has started a chain reaction, my friend.”

Jack doesn't like that. If two out of three omegas are in heat, even the less verbose heat of the older omegas, then that means Jack will be next. 

He stares down into his half-eaten stew, suddenly not hungry anymore. The food boils inside of him and the nausea is almost overpowering. He’s not ready to face another heat. Not after his last one, not after everything he’s been through. He’s not  _ ready. _

Jack doesn't finish his meal. He leaves the table early and no one says anything as he dumps the contents into the trash, puts the bowl in the sink, and disappears into his bedroom. 

He lays out on his bed for hours, staring up at the ceiling and missing Gabriel. His finger brush over the scar on his stomach, raised edges healed, but not forgotten. Never forgotten. His chest hurts. His eyes sting with tears.

He rolls over and tries to sleep.

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

Jack wakes to a familiar itch under his skin. Comfort and dread zip through him in equal measures, but he takes a steadying breath and lets it out. He knew Jesse’s heat would kick start his own. Even through the walls he can still smell the sweet scent of it. 

He hopes someone brought them food. 

He takes a quick shower to ease the burn, washes away the sweat and grime from it developing in the night. When he steps out, his nose catches a scent. Smoke and petrichor. His body relaxes automatically at the scent and relief curls through his gut. 

Jack doesn’t even bother putting on clothes  before exiting the shower because Gabriel glides across the room in a plume of black smoke and pins him to the nearest wall. A low, subverbal rumble vibrates against Jack’s chest and Gabriel’s mouth latches onto the bonding mark on his neck. Gabriel’s scent is overpowering in the best of ways and Jack can feel the arousal building low in his gut. 

He nuzzles at Gabriel’s hairline, inhaling the alpha’s scent. Gabe’s hands reach down under Jack’s thighs and lift him with ease, pressing him harder into the wall. Jack lets out a pleased sound, biting the tip of Gabe’s ear and delighting in the chuckle that his alpha releases. 

“Didn’t think you’d be back so soon.” Jack sighs, tipping his head to bare his throat. Gabriel nips and sucks at his neck, tongue laving over the bite mark and teeth nibbling at Jack’s ear. 

“Hana got ahold of Sombra and told her that Jesse went into heat.” Gabriel replies, “Figured with our bad luck recently, this would happen. I was finished with my op anyway.”

Jack cards his fingers through Gabriel’s hair, pulls the head back to look up at him. He hooks his feet at the base of Gabriel’s spine and leans down to press a warm kiss against the alpha’s mouth. Gabriel lets out a sigh into the kiss before pulling Jack deeper. 

The pleasure builds slow, steady, so much different than their last encounters. His heat is back to normal, just a low buzz at the base of his spine, a lazy, lethargic pleasure. He would be a liar to say he didn’t miss it. Jack’s too old for the heat of a younger omega. He’s more than happy to be back to normal.

“You sure you want to do this?” Gabriel pulls from the kiss, peppers more along Jack’s jaw line, “It’s only been a month we don’t have to-.”

Jack’s fingers twist into Gabriel’s hair, scowls down at him even though the alpha’s face isn’t very clear, “Please, Gabe.” His voice comes out weak, even though his grip is strong and his heat is purring, he  _ needs _ Gabe now more than ever. 

Gabe lets out an aroused growl before removing one of his hands from Jack’s scared thighs and reaching down to unbuckle his pants. He fumbles for a bit, moans when Jack sucks a mark into his neck. He can feel the alpha’s dick press into his inner thigh as it’s released and Jack moans. 

“That’s it,  _ alpha _ .” Jack rumbles, mouth open at Gabriel’s ear, “Fuck me.”

“Damn it.” Gabriel huffs, fingers moving for Jack’s ass and index finger pressing against his hole.

Jack knows he’s slick, not as slick as he would be in a normal heat, but slick enough that Gabriel’s finger goes into the knuckle in one smooth motion. His body vibrates, chest arching, thighs shaking as his alpha fingers him open. Gabriel holds him steady with one hand, his strength shocking even in his new form. 

He revels in the scent of Gabriel’s sex. The petrichor smell is still strong, beautiful in Jack’s nostrils, but the warm, fresh baked cinnamon is the best. Jack inhales it as Gabriel fingers him, lets the hunger roll around his belly and he comes from Gabriel’s fingers alone. It sprays against his stomach and his hips twitch down as he cries out. 

“Look at you,  _ mi luna _ .” Gabriel growls into the spot under Jack’s jaw, “Just my fingers. Did you miss me, Jack?”

Jack nods through the aftershocks of his first orgasm, leans down to steal a kiss. Gabriel accepts it with ease. 

Gabriel doesn’t even wait for Jack’s shivers to subside before he puts his cock against Jack’s leaking entrance and glides inside. He goes slow, oh so slow and Jack drops his head back against the wall with a dull thunk. His alpha’s cock is thick and warm, spearing Jack open at an agonizingly slow pace. 

It’s exactly what Jack needs. 

When Gabe’s fully seated, Jack clenches around him, can feel the base of his knot growing. His body blooms at the feel of it, surrounded by their mixing scents. He stares up at the ceiling as his body adjusts, heart clenching within his chest. Gabriel mouths at his pecs, taking a nipple between his lips and sucking.

Jack whines, surprised, shocked, his body releasing a rush of slick where their bodies are joined. He lets out a cry when Gabriel pulls out and pushes back inside, still so slow. His pace never increases, he fucks Jack with a single-minded patience that has Jack spilling between them again just from the feeling. 

The orgasm is less intense, but still amazing. It makes him breathless and he begins to push down when Gabriel’s thrusts up. He tries to quicken the pace, but Gabriel doesn't allow him to. His smoking fingers dig into the flesh of Jack’s thighs, holding him steady, controlling his thrusts. 

Jack has never been so thankful to not have control. 

It isn’t long before he can feel Gabriel’s knot expanding, another orgasm burning low in his gut. Gabriel’s cock slides in and out of him, careful, measured thrusts bring Jack closer and closer to the brink. Their breaths mingle when they kiss, Gabriel’s mouth is hot when he bites into the skin of Jack’s throat. 

“Look at me, Jack.” Gabriel’s voice pulls him from his own head, the pleasure and two orgasms making him delirious. However, he brings his chin back down, stares into the dark eyes watching him. Gabriel’s face is smoking, his form holding strong but leaking with the pleasure between them. 

Jack, even blind, can see the determination in his alpha’s face. 

The pleasure scorches his veins and he can feel the knot, almost there. So close. The orgasm is  _ right there _ -

“I would have stepped down with you.” Gabriel whispers.

Jack’s heart seizes, his stomach quivers, “N-no, not now Gabe- _ please _ -”

Gabriel shakes his head, eyes pleading, “I would have left everything for you. We could have moved away, far away, and had young. We could have started a  _ family _ , Jack.” 

The tears fall unbidden, Jack can’t stop them. His eyes burn and his body throbs with pleasure as Gabriel continues to drive into him. 

“I fucked that up.” Gabriel insists, “I should have kept you. I should have-.”

“No.  _ No _ , Alpha.” Jack whispers, pulling Gabriel’s head forward until their foreheads touched, “It could have never-it wouldn’t have changed-.”

Gabriel presses a desperate kiss against Jack’s mouth, he can probably taste the salt from Jack’s tears, “I’m going to fix this Jack, I promise.” His hips move faster now, more hurried, a tinge more desperate. 

Jack whines into his mouth, “ _ I love you _ .” 

Gabriel’s moan is anguished as his knot locks into place and he comes before Jack. His body vibrates with pleasure, shoulders shaking under Jack’s arms and he can  _ feel _ Gabriel’s release inside of him. 

It triggers his last orgasm, bright and brilliant as the tears and the heartache mix into a beautiful cocktail of satisfaction. He can feel Gabriel’s hands trembling against his thighs and the alpha buries his face into Jack’s neck. 

After they both settle, Jack feels Gabriel lower his legs back to the floor. He wobbles a bit, but his alpha drops an arm around his waist and helps guide him to the bed. Jack lays out on it, allows Gabriel to clean him up. He can see the tendrils of smoke gliding over his flesh, caressing it like a whisper. Gabriel’s hands are careful, gentle, and before long he’s curled up in the spot beside Jack.

“You can stay the entire time?” Jack asks sleepily, turning his nose to scent the salted skin of Gabriel’s chest. 

Gabriel lets out a sad sigh, “I have to keep going, Jack.”

He tries to stifle the sad whine, but some of it escapes and Gabriel’s arm tightens around his back. 

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


Gabriel leaves Jack on the third day of his heat. Sombra pings him, the russian’s next location popped up and she gives him a two day window before they pack up shop again. He rolls over in bed to stare at Jack, body littered with bruises and their mating mark fresh. The omega is still sleeping, chest rising and falling with steady breaths. 

The scar on Jack’s belly is prominent, more so than any other scar on his body. It twists a fresh wave of anger inside of him. 

Jack didn’t deserve this sort of pain. Jack didn’t deserve to have an empty womb and a scar with nothing to show for it. 

He bends low and presses a kiss to the scar, fingers gliding over part of it, his heart hurting. A hand glides through his hair, gentle and loving. Fingers caress his scalp and Gabriel allows himself this moment of weakness. His eyes burn as he closes them, gives the scar more kisses, sobs against the skin of Jack’s belly. 

The hand in his hair stays firm, steady, an anchor in the sea of his sadness. 

When he’s done, he sits up in the bed and looks over at Jack. His beautiful omega is holding back tears of his own, faded eyes wet and lips quivering. Gabriel kisses them. He frames Jack’s face with his hands and devours him, steady and strong, absorbing the moans and the soft cries that come with it. 

“I have to go.” He caresses Jack’s cheek.

“Stay safe.” Jack mumbles, “Don’t die without me there.” 

Gabriel lets out a wet laugh, “Together or not at all,  _ mi sol _ .” 

He leaves Jack in bed once more, curled up on his side, attempting to sleep through the last remnants of his heat. 

The watchpoint is quiet as he glides through to the exit. Jesse’s sickly sweet smell is almost gone as well, still lingering, but not as strong. 

He meets Sombra in Siberia. 

She’s leaning against a white van, most likely filled with whatever washed up tech she could find in the wintery hell hole.

“How long have they been here?” He asks, forming at her side. 

“A week.” She looks at her nails, “Maybe two at the most. Chatter says they’ll be moving again soon though. Talon was mentioned twice. Along with a name.” 

A name. A name was  _ new _ . A name would give them something human in Talon. Some kind of centerpiece, a goal to work towards. Maybe even lead them to who hired them in the first place. The shadowed figure in encrypted video calls was probably a ruse anyway. A figurehead hiding the true leader. 

He examines the snowy cliffside, “How many inside?”

“Forty three and a cat.” She looks up at him with a grin, “Bring me the cat.”

Gabriel laughs.

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


Jack finds himself on the sofa in the communal area the next evening. He kicks back with his feet up on the coffee table, a mug of coffee in his left hand and remote in the other. He flicks through the channels until he can hear something semi-pleasing to the ears to watch. He settles on an old movie, burrows further into the couch and listens to the sounds of the watchpoint. 

He feels better after Gabriel left. That all encompassing fear of Gabriel leaving doesn’t rear its ugly head when he woke up to an empty bed. His body felt gloriously used and he got the satisfaction of an emotional release on top of it all. 

“Oh thank god you’re here.” Jesse’s voice cuts through the strange meditation Jack has going on and he can feel the cowboy flop down onto the couch. The other omega’s head lands in Jack’s lap and the lingering scent of his heat hovers the air around him. Jack can also smell that he showered, washing away whatever was left of Hanzo’s mating scent. 

Jack chuckles down at him, “I thought you were still mad at me.”

Jesse nuzzles into his belly, “Don’ be like that. Yer weird heat was stinkin’ up the entire kitchen, what was I supposed to think?”

“I’m not stupid enough to go after your Alpha, Jesse.” Jack sets the remote on the arm of the sofa and sets his hand atop Jesse’s head. He cards his fingers through the half-wet mass, “Did Hanzo have to leave?”

Jesse sighs at the feel of his hair being stroked, but grumbles at the question, “ _ Yes _ . Payload in Nubani needed a sniper.”

Jack understands the frustration. Both of their alphas left before the hormones could wear off, leaving two very ansty, cuddly omegas in need of aftercare. 

“Fuckin’ bull if you ask me.” Jesse huffs.

Jack hums, continues to thread his fingers through Jesse’s hair, listens to the movie in front of them. He smells Rein before he sees him and the large man takes a seat at the base of the couch.

“Mind if I join you?” His voice is not booming, he’s riding the end of his heat as well. 

Jack allows him to curl a large arm around Jack’s elevated legs. His big body is warm against his sweatpants, but not unwelcome. 

The three of them sit in silence, the movie lulling Jack back to sleep almost. It’s the warmest he’s been in ages. The chaos of his sadness ebs away, still there, but quiet. Their scents mingle, rain and bourbon and honey. It’s comforting and it’s been a long, long time since Jack’s had the comfort of other Omegas.

They’re never all three been out of heat at the same time. 

Jesse snuffs against Jack’s thigh, drifting in and out of his own slumber. Rein makes a comment about the movie, his thumb rubbing gentle circles on Jack’s knee.

“Are you still doing alright, my friend?” Rein asks.

Jack lets out a sigh, “Better than I was before.”

“Losing a young is trying.” The old knight twists to look up at him, “You are a strong man, Jack.”

Doesn't always feel like it, Jack thinks. He should have been stronger. Should have seen the signs, gone to Angela sooner. Maybe the young would still be alive inside of him now. 

His stomach clenches, the hand in Jesse’s hair moves to press against his belly. Rein rumbles against his leg, hand clenching in sympathy. Jesse must sense his sudden distress too because he wakes up and puts his forehead to Jack’s hand. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Jack.” Jesse mutters.

“I know.” Jack replies, but it doesn’t stop the sting. It doesn’t stop the hurt.

“Hey cuddle bugs, want some breakfast for dinner?” Lucio’s voice is booming, cheerful and cuts through the sadness effortlessly.

Jesse sits up straight, grinning, “You betcha!”

“What’ll it be, gentlemen? Waffles or pancakes?” Lucio is already popping the fridge open, rummaging through cabinets. Jack can hear him even from the couch.

Rein and Jesse reply with ‘waffles’, Jack just gives a half smile, “I’m outnumbered no matter what.”

Lucio laughs and happily sets about starting the meal.

He’s ten minutes into before he lets out a happy huff, “Man, it smells really good in here. Like spring showers and fresh baked bread. Is that weird? Did ya’ll put out some kinda candle?”

Jack’s back straightens, head twisting around to take in the blurry form of Lucio’s back. Oh fuck, oh  _ hell. _

Rein’s hand on Jack’s leg falls lax and the tension in the older man’s body is palpable in the air around them.

“Uh-oh.” Jesse mumbles. 

Lucio finally stops humming at the muted silence. Jack watches him turn slowly, can’t see his face, but it’s probably confused, “Everything okay over there?”

“You should probably go see Angela.” Jack makes his voice firm.

He practically can hear the hesitation, “Why-?”

“Cuz you’re presenting, kiddo.” Jesse shifts on the sofa beside Jack, “That’s Rein yer smellin’.”

“N-no.” Lucio lets out a nervous laugh, “I’ve been a beta for 26 years. I’m  _ seven  _ years past my presentation date.”

“Go see Angela.” Jack insists, “She’ll explain it.” 

The stove clicks off slowly and Lucio’s bare feet shuffle across the floor, “Story of my life.” And Jack can hear once he’s gone, feels Rein relax into his legs.

Jack turns back around on the couch, “Rein?”

Rein lets out a wounded sound, face mashed into Jack’s kneecap, “He’s always smelt like apples and fresh snow.” His voice is wistful, longing, so unlike the big man’s usual loud nature. 

“How long have you been able to scent him?” Jesse marvels, “He’s been a  _ beta _ .” 

“Does it matter?” Rein grunts, “It is impossible. I am too old.”

Jack grunts, “Hasn’t stopped any of us yet.”

The TV screen blinks twice eight minutes later and a very,  _ very _ harried Angela comes into focus on the screen. Jack squints at it, trying to make out the rest of her. 

“I am calling for a mandatory check up for  _ everyone at this watchpoint. _ ” She hisses through the screen, “You will all get appointment times. You do not leave the watchpoint on  _ ANY _ mission until I’ve cleared you.” Her voice is stern and strained and he can hear Lucio’s long-suffering sigh in the background of the video feed.

“Well fuck.” Jesse slouches.

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  
  


Twenty-nine personnel down and Gabriel’s barely half-way through the base. Sombra’s chattering away in his ear, guiding him through the facility. He isn’t sure this is worth his time in all honesty. The entire base is practically empty except for a small smattering of computers and a satellite. 

The guards are too easy to take down as well. 

“ _ Alexander Diakonoff. _ ” Sombra clicks her tongue, “ _ That’s the fourth time I’ve heard that name since we got here _ .”

Reaper twists the neck of the thirtieth guard, hovers near a locked door leading him to the center of the facility, “Is he important?”

“ _ He’s their contact. _ ” She replies, “ _ He’s who organized them in the first place. None of these pendejos are even affiliated with russian KGB or any government association.” _

Gabriel hears her unlock the door and slips through into yet another dimly lite, silver hallway. There are less doors in this one, most of them locked as he passes them. He glides along the floor, smoke leaking from under the cloak as he nears the last door. 

“Anyone ahead?”

“ _ I can’t tell.” _ She hisses, he hears a click, a few beeps, “ _ Reaper, be careful, I don’t know what’s in that room. _ ”

The truth, hopefully. 

_ Something. _

Or a trap.

He comes to a halt in front of the door, stainless steel, no windows, just a single knob. The entire hallways is silent, too quiet. He knows there’s still thirteen people left inside this winter hideout and they can’t all be behind this damn door. 

His taloned hand twists the knob, pulls the door outward. 

The room is a dead end. The interior is-

“ _ Reaper?! _ ” Sombra shouts, “ _ Reaper!- _ ” Fuzz. Static. 

The room is-

“ _ Reaper?! _ ”

Static. Fuzz.

The room is-

“ _ Gab-! _ .”

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  
  


Jack is in the middle of having his blood tested yet again when the alarm in the watchpoint goes off. He sits straight up on the medical table, watches Angela spin around in her chair and shove away towards her computer. 

He joins her and snaps, “Athena, status!”

“ _ Winston is calling all able personnel. Code veridian.” _

Ally in jeopardy. A blackwatch code.

“Fuck.” Jack stomps back over to where his shirt is, yanking it on quickly, “Reaper.”

Angela sputters, “Do you need me?” 

“No.” Jack shakes his head, “I’ll take Lucio, he anywhere close to a rut?

“No. He’s months away from that kind of hormonal drive.” She replies, “But I’m still-.”

“It’s too close quaters for you. Gabriel was going to a base in Siberia this time, same as our last infiltration, cliffside.” He still has to stop by his room to grab his jacket, swing by the armory to retrieve his rifle, “Lucio will do a better job inside a facility.” 

“Okay.” She agrees, “I’ll be on standby for extraction then, with Lena.”

Winston is standing at the transport, pad in hand and arguing vehemently with Jesse, whose hands are flailing wildly. 

“I can help.”

“You are one day out of heat.” Winston scolds, “Hanzo isn’t back from his mission and you need to stay  _ here _ .”

“You can’t send  _ one _ assault class into a close quarters firefight.” Jesse snarls, standing toe-to-toe with the alpha. 

“We don’t even know if it  _ is _ a firefight!” Winston sounds exasperated, exhausted. He rubs at his temples just as Jack strolls up.

Vaswani is standing near the transport, buried inside a datapad with Hana at her side. They’re whispering amongst themselves, back and forth chatter suspicious. 

“What exactly was the alert?” Jack steps in, voice hard.

“Your mates little hacker friend sent this-.” Winston twists his pad around where a voice clip hovers on the screen’s surface.

“ _ Coordinates encrypted. This base was a trap. Reaper has been compromised. Loss of communication, thirteen enemies remaining. _ ”

“That’s it. No explanation as to why they’re there.” Winston snaps, “What’s the point of having a man on the outside if we don’t know what they’re doing.”

“He’s former Blackwatch and you know it, Winston.” Jesse hisses, pointing a finger at him, “I’ll be a good asset, just let me  _ go. _ ”

“Fine.  _ Fine. _ ” Winston waves his data pad at him, “Everyone suit up. ETA six hours.”

“I can do you one better.” Hana grins cheerfully. Vaswani lets out a sigh behind her, pad loose in her hand.

Jack peers over at them suspiciously, “Faster. You mean.”

“Oh yea.” Hana bounces over, “Got in touch with-what’s her name?”

“Sombra.” Jack replies slowly, eyeing her as she bounces over to them. 

“You only get one use out of this.” Vaswani says rather harshly, “I have guided your hacker spy on how to build a long range teleport.” She pulls her own tools out and sets about making her own, “You will be able to send three people through, no big machines.” Hana lets out a disappointed whine at that.

“No tanks.” Jack curses, “That’s risky.”

“Risky is leaving an asset in enemy territory.” Winston states, “Reaper’s back on the inside and intel he’s gotten from Athena would be excellent in the hands of Talon.”

Jack shoves a hand through his hair, “Goddamnit.”

“Is this gonna work?” Jesse eyes Vaswani’s teleport, which is now flickering between blue and purple.

“I am not 100 percent.” She replies truthfully, “More like 76 percent sure.”

“Oh that’s real comforting-.” Jesse huffs, but situates his hat firmly on his head and steps over to it. 

Lucio joins Jack as the three of them walk up to the teleport. 

They step through one after the other and the first thing Jack notices is the biting cold of the Siberia wind. He’s ankle deep in snow and standing just outside a small white van. They’re hidden near snow laden trees. 

Jack reaches over and knocks against the freezing metal of the van.

The back door pops open, “It worked!”

“Thank god.” Jesse shivers, “It’s cold as balls out here.”

They all pile into the van, barely fitting around the equipment.

“Wow, Hana would love to get her paws on this stuff.” Lucio whistles.

Sombra slaps his hand when he tries to touch one of the flickering monitors showing different hallways in the facility, “Don’t touch.”

“Update.” Jack snaps.

Sombra frowns at him, but drops down into her chair, points to an empty hallway, “I lost him here. East wing of the facility. He went down this hall, I couldn’t see anything beyond it and about halfway I lost visual of him.” 

Jack stares at the monitor, the hallway isn’t long, there’s a scattering of doors down the middle and one at the end, “Halfway down the hall?”

Sombra nods, points it out on the screen, “Right about here. He kept going and once he opened the door, it was almost like he couldn’t hear me at all.” One of her fists clench on the desk top, “His end kept cutting out and then nothing.” She looks up at him, “I don’t know what’s behind that door.”

Jack drops the safety on his rifle, “Let’s go find out then.”

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


Jack tracks Gabriel by scent. 

His alphas earthy smell is easy to distinguish in a facility made of steel and concrete. The ice and cold almost covers it up, but seeing as Gabriel’s tracks are fresh, Jack has no problem leading his team to the east wing. 

The hallway is creepy.

“This hallway is creepy.” Lucio whispers Jack’s thoughts out loud. 

“No kiddin’.” Jesse shudders, “I’m getting the jeebies just starin’ at it.”

Jack understands, his own instincts rear up cautiously at it. He has the urge to pace the outer edge of the door, searching for possible escape routes, but Sombra’s pretty sure it’s a dead end. 

Lucio is the one who steps through first, newly acquired Alpha instincts make him throw caution the the wind, while Jack and Jesse’s omega hesitation keeps them at the rear. Jack keeps his rifle up over Lucio’s left shoulder, Jesse doing the same on his right, watching their sides as the audio medic continues forward. 

When they reach the door, Lucio twists the knob and snaps, “It’s locked.”

“Easy.” Jesse snorts, “Helix.”

Jack watches as Jesse crowds Lucio up against the left wall as he lifts his rifle and switches to the rocket mode.  One blast and the knob is gone, leaving a large burning blue hole in its place. He switches back to fire mode and yanks the door open. 

The room is pitch black, even for an almost blind man it’s  _ black. _

Jack pulls a small flashlight from his utility belt and flicks it on, but nothing shows. He looks at it, sees that the bulb is lit up, but nothing illuminates beyond the beam. 

“Uh-” Jesse’s swallow is audible, “Jack-.”

Dread pools in Jack’s stomach and he hands Jesse the light. The other omega’s hands wrap around it, tugging it from Jack’s hand. He uses that same hand to reach out into the blackness and that dread turns to fear.

The blackness is thick, dense,  _ alive _ . 

It pulses around his wrist as half his arm disappears through the doorway. 

“Oh god.” Jack croaks. 

“ _ What’s going on? _ ” Sombra’s voice is choppy, static nearly obscuring her voice from the comms. 

“Get a hold of Mercy.” Jesse replies, “We gotta situation.”

A low whine vibrates in the back of Jack’s throat as the blackness squeezes gently around his arm, petting him almost.

Jack’s voice quivers, “ _ Gabe _ ?”

It squeezes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some changes, the only big one being that Rein isn't an Alpha anymore. 
> 
> In other news, I don't tag the Mchanzo in this fic because I don't want it to get mixed in with the mchanzo tag seeing as this is a Reaper76 centric fic. So if there is any heavy mchanzo, I'll put it in the beginning notes. 
> 
> Also, Rein has the same type of heat as Jack because he _was_ mated a long time ago. I know Reincio isn't everyone's cup of tea and I don't have many rarepairs, but that one is mine. (So it'll be tagged if I mention it in any chapter) 
> 
> Next to nothing is known about Talon's hierarchy, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants with half of this shit. So bear with me. I'm doing my best to world build as authentically as possible.
> 
> Thank you for you support and kudos and comments, you're all amazing!


	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. Sorry for the delay. I was finishing up with commissions and catching up on schoolwork.
> 
> Plus, I knew that Blizz would be dropping some serious lore on us soon and I wanted to make sure it wouldn't affect the outline I'd already made for the story. The good news is, I only had to tweak it a little bit.
> 
> _Enjoy_

**Six**

 

 

 

  
  


Jack Morrison never wanted to lead Overwatch. 

He was content to stay a soldier, at Gabriel’s side, until they retired. A footsoldier in an ongoing war. He knew there would never be peace, not true peace. Gabriel knew it as well, which is why Jack took his punishment and retreated when Overwatch inevitably fell. 

He spent so much time taking back alley suppressants and hunting down criminals like a common vigilante, he forgot who he was. Or who he had been. Some days, he couldn’t figure out where Jack ended and the omega began. Until, of course, his fertility hit its end and he was left, unmated and alone and on the run. 

Gabriel had been it for him. Jack wanted nothing more than to drag his alpha across the globe and settle down, as far away from the conflict as possible. He had imagined a little farm house and pancakes on sundays and Gabriel wrapped around him and Gabriel  _ there _ with him.

And then-

Fire and flame and the end. 

Jack standing outside of his mates bedroom, lost and  _ broken. _

And with all three leaders torn asunder, Overwatch crumbled to the ground. 

“Jack-.” Lucio’s hand is wrapped around his elbow, shakes it slightly and jerks him from his thoughts. 

His arm is still hovering within the black mass. No light penetrates it, Jack can’t hear Sombra over the coms anymore. Jesse is cursing up a storm and walking back down the hall to get ahold of her again. 

Jack swallows, makes a fist with his hand and the smoke curls around it, petting gently, “Gabriel, what did they do to you?” His voice is hoarse around the words, unsure of what to make of the situation. 

Obviously, Gabriel can’t speak, and Jack doesn't remove his hand. He presses his forehead to the doorframe, uncurling his fingers to drift through the dense fog that is his mate. Gabe moves with him, the blackness shifting like a pacing predator. Jack can hear Jesse speaking furiously to Sombra down the hall, Lucio is patient and solid at his back. 

“There were still twelve agents here.” Lucio whispers, “Where are they now?”

Jack winces and Gabriel turns his hand palm up, invisible fingers curling against the skin. 

_ Dead now. _

“They’re dead.” Jack states, “Inside.”

“Yikes.” Lucio mutters, “Nice job, man.” The younger man looks around Jack’s body, hand out to skim along the surface of Gabriel’s broken form, “He’s alive.”

Jack frowns, “Of course he is.”

“No, I mean-.” Lucio huffs, “I mean, something ripped his molecules apart. This was supposed to render him inert, but it didn’t work. He’s still  _ alive. _ ” 

The fingers run cool and swift down Jack’s arm and a soft ‘yes’ is traced into his palm. Jack sighs in relief and sags against the doorway. 

Jesse’s boot’s jingle noisily as he walks back in their direction. Jack turns his head slightly to get a look at him, the weary lines of Jesse’s face will soon mirror Jack’s own at this rate.

“Sombra radioed Athena, it’ll be a while before anyone gets here and fuck-.” Jesse clenches his fist, “We don’t know enough about Reapers physiology to even reverse what happened.”

“I can help with that.”

Sombra forms, purple and pixilated between Jesse and the wall. The cowboy yelps slightly and hisses at her as she walks past Lucio and stops beside Jack. 

Jack studies her for a moment before stepping aside to give her more room. 

“Next time I tell you I can’t see a room, don’t go up to it.” She fusses, releasing a few chosen words in spanish as she studies the doorway, “It has to be some sort of device.”

Jack waits for Gabriel to respond, gets an affirmation a second later. He nods at Sombra, who waves a hand, “Easy then. Just bring me the device.” 

Jack stares down at her incredulously, “You want me to go  _ inside _ ?”

“Well I sure as hell ain’t.” Sombra recoils with a scrunched up nose, “You’re his mate, you get to do the dirty work.”

Jack heaves a heavy sigh and squares his shoulders. Jesse wishes him luck as he steps into the darkness. 

His vision is already fucked, but now it's completely dark and Jack wonders for a second if this is what he’ll see in a few more years. (If he makes it that long) He feels pressure against his shoulders, turning him where he needs to go through the black. His foot connects with a few bodies, but Gabe does a good job in guiding him through the mess. 

He eventually reaches what he suspects is the device. The pressure covers his arms, bends him down and his fingers brush over warm metal and a vibrating core. It’s small, the size of a tiny generator. Jack lifts it gently, checks to make sure there’s no cord connecting it to anything. Gabriel guides him back to the door. 

He hovers before it, unsure if he should remove the device from Gabriel’s misting form. He puts it under one arm and sticks his hand out, “Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.” Sombra confirms, “You find it?’

“Yea.” Jack says, “Don’t think I should remove it, though.”

Sombra hums before clicking her tongue, “Yea, better to be safe than sorry. Get it as close to the doorway as you can.”

Jack does as he’s told, holds it out just at the opening of the door. He can’t see anything, but that’s almost familiar. The calm spreading across his could be the pressure of Gabe’s phantom touch, but he knows it’s a mixture of both. 

“Ready.” Jack grouses, gritting his teeth and waiting. 

A beam of purple light filters through the mass of black, a beacon to remind Jack that he can in fact, still see something. He watches it skim the invisible device between his hands and in seconds the black sucks back around him. The room is flooded with light again and Jack turns in time to see Reaper form back in a swirl that mirrored a sandstorm. 

Gabriel stumbles forward from the impact, wheezes slightly, “What the hell was that?” 

The device is plucked from Jack’s hands before he can look at it. Jack scowls down at Sombra, who is holding it in her own hands now, examining it from top to bottom. It’s a small thing, silver and black with wires sticking out of the side and metal rods from the top.

“This is archaic.” Sombra whispers reverently, “Like, this is  _ old school _ tech.”

Jack inhales sharply as Gabriel pauses at his side, petrichor and burnt wood filling his nostrils after so long apart. He shakes his head, puts himself back in check, looks around Sombra to check on Jesse and Lucio. 

Jesse whistles at the hoard of dead bodies laying about the room, “You did a number on them.”

Gabriel glances around their feet, Jack can’t see his face behind the mask, but his tone is suspicious when he says, “They were waiting.”

Sombra looks up, surprised, “Waiting?”

“One of them was standing next to the device when I opened the door. He turned it on the second they saw me.” Gabriel explains, “It was supposed to kill me.” He nods towards Lucio, who is checking the pulse on one of the dead men, “But it was almost like an experiment.”

“Or an omen.” Jesse walks around the room, hands on his hips, face hidden by the rim of his hat. 

Jack doesn’t like the sound of that.

Sombra is still tinkering with the device, pushing at spots, using the beam to scan it, “Did you find the cat?”

Gabriel growls, “That was not my top priority, Sombra.”

She gives a shrug, “Doesn’t hurt to ask. Poor thing. So alone.”

Jack can practically feel Gabriel’s eye roll at her response. He scans the room again, noting that it isn’t very big at all. Less than four hundred square feet. Now why would twelve men hole up in a room that could barely fit them with their arms stretched out, just to immobilize a threat?

“Every goddamn thing has been a trap.” Jack snarls, “What does Talon want?”

“Beats me.” Sombra twists around on her heels, heads for the door, “I’m going to study this thing further.”

“No.” Jack states, “It comes with us.”

Sombra flicks back around, gaze narrowed, “Excuse me, I don’t think I heard you right.” She slinks up to him, the vivid scent of lightning and scorched treebark accompanying her. Jack knows the sharp stink of an alpha’s anger no matter what body it’s in. He meets her nose to nose.

“I said,” Jack enunciates, “It comes with us.”

He doesn’t have time for little alphas to challenge him. Omega or not, he commanded an entire organization of mixed biology. 

She snorts, backs away and regards him with an approving air, “Good choice in mate, Gabbi.” Then, with a smirk, she gives a little wave from around the device and dissolves into purple pixels once again.

Jack curses, taking an aborted step forward, but a taloned hand curls around his elbow and stops him. He rounds on Gabriel, face twisted in frustration, “That belongs to us.”

“It belongs to no one.” Gabriel states calmly, voice rough and precise, “She’ll be long gone by the time you try and catch up with her.”

“And you?” Jesse’s voice pipes in from the doorway, “You coming back to the watchpoint with us?”

“No.” Gabriel replies, “I have unfinished business to take care of.”

“Like what?” Jack hisses, “We just teleported half away across the goddamn globe to rescue you and you have  _ nothing _ for us?” 

Gabriel towers over him, smoke curling around Jack like a storm, “There is no concrete evidence to go off of yet. Know your place.”

“My  _ place _ ?” Jack snarls, hand jerking out to wrap around Gabriel’s neck, but the wraith disperses and reappears behind Jack. He spins around to face him again, “We needed a man on the inside, not another mystery to solve.” Jack snaps, “We can’t save the world if you’re keeping secrets from me.”

The mask remains impassive, haunting, “ _ Lo siento, mi amor. _ ” 

Jack’s hackles rise as Gabriel dissolves once more, through the door and down the hallways.

“ _ Gabriel _ !” Jack snarls, pushing past Jesse and Lucio, stepping into the hall. 

He watches the black smoke vanish around the corner. 

“What now?” Lucio asks.

Jack’s shoulders fall and he drops his head into his hands.

Now, they wait.

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


“Where have you been?” Amelie hisses when Gabriel forms within their latest warehouse pit stop. 

Sombra is already at home near her computer setup, device on a pedestal and connected to her equipment with multiple wires. She gives him a smirk as he passes, gliding to his side of the room and ignoring Widowmaker completely.

She follows him anyway, “I asked you a question.”

“Tying up some loose ends.” Gabriel hisses, “What does it matter?”

She scowls at him, “I received  _ orders _ while you two were off frolicking about.” 

Gabriel pauses, “What kind of orders?”

“The kind that the council sends.” She hisses, “Personally.”

Gabriel lets the news sink in slowly and he takes a deep, steadying breath. The council. Of course. Something he’s been avoiding for months now. He was so preoccupied with Jack and tracking  _ down _ the leaders of Talon that he forgot that he still works for them. Technically. 

“What are they?” He asks slowly. 

Amelie tosses her head, “ _You_ are to meet with an Alexander Diakonoff at sunset. West side of Numbani.” 

Gabriel rises to his full height at the name. He chances a glance at Sombra, who is watching the two of the out of the corner of her eyes. The name of the Russian mafia's contact. The man Gabriel assumed would be the actual leader of Talon. No, he was a  _ messenger  _ apparently. 

“Send me the coordinates.” He barks at Sombra.

She flicks two fingers at him, “Sure bossman, whatever you say.”

“I will accompany you.” Amelie insists.

“Were you requested?” Gabriel asks her. 

Her face scrunches down into a frown and he watches her fingers curl sharply at her thighs. He knows the answer, knows he can’t risk her going. 

He also knows he can’t stop her.

“I was not.” She settles.

Gabriel shrugs one shoulder, twists around to gather what he might need to take with him. There isn’t anything. Just a makeshift blanket in the corner of the warehouse where he sat in between ops. 

He stares at it for a long while, thinks of Jack’s warm bed, sheets smelling of honey and snow. Then there was Jack himself. Warm and male and curled around him as they slept. The cold, hard floor he was looking at was nothing compared to what Jack had for him at Overwatch. What Jack had always given freely, offered with open arms and a tentative smile. 

Part of him hates what he’s had to become. The other part welcomes it. It bleeds through him and fuels the fire that was never truly put out. So many years and it still raged and burned within him. 

“We leave in twenty.” Gabriel keeps his voice neutral, authoritative. He can feel Amelie straighten happily. Then the sound of her gathering her gear up and giving Sombra instructions to stay in contact, blah blah blah. 

“Have fun.” Sombra’s tone is cryptic and just a tad bit too joyful for Gabe’s tastes. He choose to ignore it. 

The trip to Numbani is a long one. The warehouse is five hours out of the way, but the Reaper isn’t allowed to argue with his orders. It doesn’t matter where he’s at on the globe, when the council rings in, Gabriel obeys. It was better than gathering around the metaphorical table every two weeks and squabbling over what part of Talon would go where. 

Gabriel scoffs as he stares out the train window. Amelie is seated across from him, frown still marring her features, which he just assumes is permanent now a day. 

“Where did you really go when the Soldier was struck down in Kings Row?” 

The question is inevitable, albeit a little later than he expected. He doesn’t look away from the window. 

“I told you I got cut off.”

“Convenient.” She sneers, “That Sombra’s  hack affected me.”

Now he looks over at her. She’s tense in her seat, gaze narrowed, but still keeping an eye on the empty car they currently inhabit. 

“Hence the cut off.” He says carefully, “Sombra fucked up.”

Her eyebrows lower dangerously, “Sombra does not ‘fuck up.’”

Gabriel leans forward menacingly, “Are you  _ questioning  _ me?” She doesn’t move. Her arms stay crossed over her chest, gaze suspicious and guarded. 

“No  _ sir _ .” She mocks sarcastically. 

He leans back, “That’s what I thought.”

The rest of the ride is silent. 

By the time they reach Numbani, the sun is barely at its setting point. They make their way across the city, just as the sun disappears beyond the buildings.  

The figure standing at the coordinates is shadowed, a real trenchcoat, back alley drug deal type of silhouette. Gabriel forms behind him, notes that his head is covered with a mask and his entire body, skin and all is shielded with clothing. He smells like  _ nothing. _ Not alpha, or beta or omega. Almost as though he’s masked that as well.

“Diakonoff.” Gabriel breathes, gliding around him on smoke, coming to a rest before what he assumes is the man’s front. 

“Reaper.” The voice is masked, some sort of metallic modifier. 

“You have a mission for me.” Gabriel chuckles, “I don’t come cheap.” He can feel Widowmaker’s eyes on him, but he doesn't need to know where she’s hiding, only that she’s on his side should this go wrong. 

“I’m aware.” Diakonoff scoffs, “You’ll be paid.”

Gabriel nods once, tilts his head to the side and crosses his arms over his chest, “What’s the job?”

A soft, menacing chuckle erupts and the modified voice only sends a chill across his mutated flesh. He doesn’t like this. His instincts are snarling, caged tight because he can’t let anyone know where his loyalties lie. 

“Your orders are to release Akande Ogundimu from his prison.” 

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Returning to the watchpoint doesn't lift Jack’s mood one bit. When they step out of the transport, Angela is hovering behind him and asking him too many questions. Winston is nowhere to be seen, probably caught up on more legal issues. 

Hanzo greets Jesse near the doors, hands rising carefully to his chest and whispering words that Jack wishes Gabriel were whispering to him. Separation so soon after a heat is exhausting to both parties. 

Jack spots Reinhardt in the hallway near the communal area when he heads toward his quarters. Lucio is grinning up at him and Rein’s big hands cradle the smaller man’s jaw and kisses him soundly on the mouth. 

Jack whips around the corner, stomach sour and bond screaming. He has no mate to come home to. Gabriel will not be waiting for him on the other side of his bedroom door. The only scent that will greet Jack upon entering is his own. 

He hesitates at the door, drops his forehead against it and the pain in his chest is sharp. Too sharp, nearly skewering him. He slaps the button to open the door and enters, embraces the darkness within. 

He sheds his clothes, showers in the darkness, lays naked on top of his sheets. There are no windows to his room, so the black is just that,  _ black. _ It reminds him of standing within Gabriel’s self, gentle pressure caressing his flesh. He doesn’t even need to close his eyes to remember it. 

The watchpoint is alive with sound. It hums around him like a heartbeat, steady and welcome. His fingers brush across his chest, hover near the scar across his abdomen. The ache flares and he finds the raised flesh, prodes at it gently. 

Jack thinks back to their last time together, his impromptu heat brought on by Jesse and Rein’s. He remembers Gabriel’s warmth and his scent and the rough, calloused hands smoking across his flesh. Gabriel had pressed wet kisses to their scar, sobbed gently against Jack’s flesh and continued to mourn the way Jack mourned every day. 

Their scar is soft, at odds with the hard, scarred flesh around it. 

_ Their _ scar.

And it was their scar. Their young _. His and Gabriel’s. _

Jack swallows the hot ball in his throat, can feel his eyes burning. He wonders for a moment, lost in the darkness of his room, whether it would have been a boy or a-

His chest hitches and he brings his hands to his eyes, presses angrily against the lids to stop the hot flow of tears. It doesn’t nothing to help. Gabriel isn’t there to sooth him. The only scent around him is his own and it does  _ nothing _ to calm him. 

He twists over onto his side, curls into the wall and sleeps.

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


When he wakes, the base is in chaos.

He only knows because Athena wakes him up and Winston is snarling through the system for all available personnel to meet in the conference room. 

Jack rolls out of bed, joints protesting and dresses quickly. He shuffles through the hallways, Fareeha is ahead of him, purpose to her stride. Hanzo and Jesse come from the entrance to the hanger, both looking nervous as their eyes meet Jack’s across the distance. 

When he reaches the meeting room, Rein, Lucio, Winston, Angela and Lena are already there. Hana sweeps in behind Jesse and Hanzo. Jack takes a seat on Fareeha’s right and Hana takes the seat on his right. 

Winston is pacing back and forth, body tense, angry huffs of air escaping with every turn at the head of the table. Lena looks nervous and she fidgets with her goggles, gives Winston a glance every now and then. 

Genji walks in last, Zenyatta at his tail and with that, Jack is sure that was all of them. Winston finally stops pacing and faces them head on.

Dread curls in Jack’s stomach because Winston’s eyes lock onto his.

“Doomfist has escaped prison.”

The room is silent for a split second before Genji whisperes, “ _ Impossible _ .” The cyborg stands up, despite Zenyatta’s hand at his elbow, “That prison is secure. There are dozens of guards.” He lifts his chin, “I check in  _ myself _ Winston-.”

“Reaper helped him escape.” Winston snarls, eyes red, “It’s all over the news.” He waves his hand at the screen behind him and the reports bloom across the surface.

Jack’s blood is cold, his body in shock. His hands tremble where they rest on his thighs and the ache from the night before returns with a vengeance. To the point where he is  _ nauseous  _ with it. The feeling does not subside as Winston assigns missions to various locations where Doomfist was last sighted.

“He has already retrieved the gauntlet.” Angela informs, “And we know his last sighting was Numbani airport, where he took out the newly sanctioned OR15’s.” A picture of the new omnic defense robots appear on the screen, “One of the bots has gone missing and we think he took it with him.” She sighs.

“There’s no telling what he could do with that tech.” Jesse whistles, patting his hand on the table, “Seems kinda useless to just send us all in seperate directions.”

“Agreed.” Hanzo cuts in, “What if the objective is to cripple what little we have rebuilt?” Jack watches the alpha motion around the table with open palms, “Gilbralter could be his target.”

Winston huffs at the ceiling, “Fine. A small team to Numbani then. I’ll send the specifics to those who will go. Everyone else sits tight and secures the watchpoint. Dismissed.”

They all rise from the table except Jack.

He watches them leave, muttering amongst themselves. Hana gives his shoulder a supportive squeeze before exiting the room behind everyone else. Even Angela sends him a look, long and worried before she shuts the door with a silent click. 

Jack turns to face Winston.

“I warned you.” The gorilla is calm, surprisingly so, considering.

Jack is numb. The tips of his fingers are numb, his heart is numb. He closes his eyes in shame. 

It’s worse than letting down Overwatch before. This is….much worse.

“You did.” Jack agrees, “I take full responsibility.” 

Winston rubs a hand down his face and his sigh is exhausted, heavy, “I don’t want to send you out there, Jack.” 

But he’s going to, Jack can feel it in his bones. 

Dread laces through him as Winston says, “Your orders are to eliminate the Reaper, Soldier 76. You allowed a traitor inside our base and he’s let one of the most notorious leaders of Talon  _ loose in a city of over a hundred thousand people. _ ”

Jack opens his eyes and meets Winston’s stare, “Understood.”

At least following orders is familiar.

But so, Jack thinks wryly, is the heartbreak.

  
  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  
  


Gabriel doesn’t stick around to see what the newly freed Akande does. He slips away through the mess of dead guards and waits for his payment to be received. It doesn’t take long before news hits the streets and the screens flash with ‘escaped criminal’. His money is almost instantaneous. 

Sombra notifies him of the transfer while he watches from afar as the city falls apart. Sirens wail and echo between buildings, lights flashing bright and violent. 

Gabriel is not satisfied, he is angry.

The guards, the small room where he snapped necks and left shotgun holes the size of basketballs in flesh. The guard room was an exact replica of the one at the Russian hideout. 

He clenches his fist, sinks further into the darkness. 

Jack will be looking at this soon. The entirety of the hidden Overwatch will be staring at headlines, news articles, internet sites of Gabriel’s betrayal. He tries to picture Jack’s expression. He’s seen betrayal on that sharp face one too many times. 

Once, as he pushed the button to his bedroom door and demanded Jack leave. 

And the second time, when the base exploded around them, Jack’s eyes wide and mouth open mid-sentence as Gabriel screamed ‘ _ You should have listened _ !’. 

He remembers it now, vivid and just as heart wrenching as it was back then. Gabe can only imagine the betrayal Jack is feeling now. After a new bond, shot in the back, loss of a young, Gabriel leaving him behind  _ constantly _ .

Everything he’s built Jack up with is about to come crashing back down.

Gabriel sighs into his wraith form and slips into the darkness once more. 

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


No one says anything to him as he gears up. Jack can feel the team’s eyes burning into his back through the leather of his jacket. He doesn’t pay them any mind, just checks the wiring on his visor, the cartridges strapped to his arms and belts. They have no idea what they’re walking into and Jack has to be prepared for anything. 

Sataya appears at his side, “I could not replicate the device.”

Jack nods once, slips the visor into place, “Then I’ll find another way to detain him.” 

“Considering his body is constantly regenerating and falling apart, I doubt that will be an option.” She whispers.

“I’ll find another way,” Jack grits his teeth, turns away from her and sets his pulse rifle over his shoulder. 

His team consists of Genji, Hanzo, Hana, and Lucio. They stand at the mouth of the transport, faces hesitant and nervous. Jack knows they are looking at him for this mission and he can’t let Gabriel compromise him again. He can’t allow Gabe’s scent or the memory of him to cloud his senses or his mind.

Their priority is containing Doomfist and neutralizing Reaper.

“Is everyone ready?” Jack asks, watching them from behind the red tint of his visor. The world is sharper, more focused, he can actually make out their features. Hana is fidgeting with her fingers, Lucio keeps casting glances at the ceiling. Hanzo’s eyes do not leave Jack’s person, arms straight at his sides, stormbow on his back. Genji is at his side, his faceplate giving as much emotion away as his brother. 

“As ready as we’ll ever be.” Hana mutters, “Let’s get this over with.”

They load into the transport, the pilot giving Jack a salute before firing up the engines. It vibrates under his feet as he watches his team meander around, whispering amongst themselves. 

Jack stays near the door, a silent guardian lost in his own turmoil. The bond withers like burnt ash inside him. It smokes and writhes, angry and demented. 

His scar hurts. 

His  _ heart _ hurts. 

“Will Pharah be meeting us there?” Hanzo’s scent is crisp, a mountain breeze over ocean. 

Jack refuses to look at him, “She’s already there. Helix contacted her the second the breach was detected.”

“Hm.” Hanzo mutters, “That is good. We will need another sky advantage. From what I know of Doomfist, he is a master at hand to hand combat.” 

Jack nods, “Yea. He can also pattern out your strategy halfway through the battle.” He does look at Hanzo this time and the archer is watching him, patient, “You stay hidden.”

A dark eyebrow lifts slowly, “Is that an order, 76?”

“It is.” Jack grouses, “If he takes you out, we lose a  _ steady _ eye.”

Hanzo’s grin is barely there, but Jack can see it at the corner of his mouth, “Should you require me on the ground, you need only say.” He walks back to Genji, who is meditating on top of a table. 

Lucio lounges next to Hana, a wide screen between them and soft music playing from it. Jack presses his back into the cool metal of the door, sets his pulse rifle against his leg. 

He sorts through the emotions skittering under his skin.

The omega in him wants to open his eyes and be in his bedroom, cool air over exposed flesh and Gabriel’s nose tucked against the mark on his neck. It wants to sink into the sheets and arch his back into Gabriel’s body, welcoming the alpha into the home Jack offers. It wants rough hands over his flesh, smoke curling like a caress down his spine. 

The soldier in him snarls at the picture, claws at it until it’s ripped to shreds.

He should have known better.

  
  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


“You are a hard man to find.” 

Gabriel sends a curse towards the sky. Akande’s voice is familiar, like an echo from a past he wants desperately to forget. 

“Maybe there’s a reason for that.” Gabriel glides around to face the recently freed council member. 

Akande smiles at him, far too easy and too familiar for Gabriel’s liking, “I was instructed to find you as soon as I escaped.” His bald head tips to the side, “The deaths were very extravagant. You have a flair for the dramatic, as usual.”

Gabriel scows behind his mask, “You don’t know me.”

Akande’s grin is predatory as he steps forward into Gabriel’s space. He  _ reeks _ of adrenaline and alpha pheromones. Too salty and spicy and full of clove. Gabe can tell the man is riding a high from the breakout, the retrieval of his gauntlet. 

“I’ve been kept well informed within my cage.” Akande states casually, “About the mysterious Reaper who leads the Widowmaker and the hacker Sombra in the attack against Overwatch.” One of his eyebrows flicks up, “But _ I _ was under the impression that Overwatch went up in flames.”

“It did.” Gabriel snorts.

Akande circles him and Gabriel lets him. Does not follow the man with his gaze. He is not nervous.

“Then who rescued you from the russian base?” 

Gabriel’s anger spikes, he can feel his body evaporating with it, attempts to steady himself. He turns his masked face just enough to side-eye Akande, “Sombra.”

“ _ Just _ Sombra?” Akande wheedles, “Are you  _ sure? _ ” A low, condescending chuckle follows, “Gabriel?”

His shoulders tense and the anger bleeds into anxiety. He still doesn’t give anything away, he does not break his gaze from Akande’. He does not move his body or twitch a muscle. 

“You think I switched sides?” Gabriel asks.

A considering noise and Akande shrugs, “Jack always was your weakest point.”

The mention of Jack seals it. He hasn’t been as secretive as he thought. Someone was feeding the council information.  _ Someone _ saw him with Jack.

Gabriel crosses his arms over his chest, attempts to look disinterested, “Jack is dead.”

Akande comes to a halt in front of Gabriel. He can’t read Akande’s face, there’s not enough to gauge his thoughts. The gauntlet glints in the Numbani sunlight, golds and pinks and yellows haloing the criminal before him. 

“Is he?” Akande’s voice is lower, “Did his death bring you peace?”

Gabriel frowns, “Peace?” He doesn’t know what peace is anymore.

No, that’s not right-

He’d found it again, it was just too far out of reach now. 

“I was hoping you would make a mistake.” Akanda sighs, waving his flesh hand around in the air, “It would be a good excuse to bring you before the council and have you removed as a leader.”

“Is that your end goal?” Gabriel scoffs, “Knocking me from the hierarchy?”

“Not at all. I recruited you, I had such high aspirations for a man with your talents.” Akande lifted a finger, “You were knocked down a peg when the poster boy became strike commander. You were  _ demoted _ and I gave you a chance you earn your place in a higher order.”

“I do remember saying ‘thank you’.” Gabriel tilts his head.

“I didn’t say you were ungrateful, Gabriel. You performed your role flawlessly.” A low laugh, “You had the commander so distraught that he practically brought the organization down by himself.”

“Who set the bomb?” Gabriel asks, the need to know burning in his gut. 

“Who do you think?”

“You were in prison.” Gabriel sneers.

“Talon was  _ inside _ Overwatch.” Akande sneers right back, “You think you were Talons only agent on the inside? I had  _ plenty _ of roaches crawling around and whispering in my ears.” He shrugs a shoulder, “I may have whispered back.”

Gabriel closes his eyes slowly, can’t bear to think of how badly he fucked up. Is still fucking up. 

“Now, I’m going to ask you again.” Akande speaks carefully, syllables pronounced, “And you  _ will _ answer me this time.” The man is twice Gabriel’s size and it shows as he towers over him, “Where is Jack Morrison?”

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


Numbani is in disorder. There are OR15’s blocking streets off, civilans frantic, and Doomfist’s face is plastered on every screen throughout the city. 

“How are we going to do this?” Lucio asks as they slink around corners, trying to stay clear of the OR’s sightlines. Overwatch is still technically illegal and attracting too much attention is a bad idea. 

Jack leads them, Lucio on his left, Hana on his right. She’s free of her MEKA. It’s on the transport, waiting for deployment should they need it. He scans the rooftops, hoping Hanzo has already reached his post.

“ _ 76 _ .” Speak of the devil.

“Are you hidden?” Jack asks. 

“ _ Enough _ .” Hanzo mutters, “ _ I’ve found Doomfist and Reaper _ .”

“Where?” Jack peeks out around the corner, darts back into the shadows of the alley when a police car rolls by. 

“ _ Four blocks east. They’re in a courtyard _ .” 

“Guide us.” Jack states.

Hanzo does and they move flawlessly through the streets. Lucio helps, he distracts a few groups of people by offering pictures and waving the rest of the group along. Jack doesn't risk Hana’s exposure, she’s already breaking rules being with them. Lucio knows the area from his last performance. 

Jack can hear the rasp of Gabriel’s voice before they even get to the edge of the courtyards gates. It’s hidden by brick walls and silver and chrome buildings. Almost as though it was built as a haven to escape the shiny front the city gives off. 

He puts a gloved finger to his lips when Lucio and Hana bunch up behind him. His visor zooms in on the figures standing in the center of fake grass and park benches. Gabriel’s arms are over his chest and Akande is a menacing hulk of muscle hovering above the wraiths smoking body. 

“Rumor is that the vigilante known as Soldier 76 is Jack Morrison.” Gabriel says matter-of-factly, “We’ve been following leads on him for months.”

“Interesting.” Akande strokes his chin, “I’ve heard of him.”

“He’s been taking down criminal groups, helix outposts,” Gabriel’s voice is condescending, “Low level bottom feeder bullshit.”

Jack inhales sharply, can  _ smell _ that Gabriel’s not even in distress. His scent is just empty and neutral, unfeeling and cold. 

“Jack.” Lucio whispers, “Calm down.” His hand catches Jack’s wrist, “I can smell-.”

Jack squeezes his eyes shut. Fuck.

“It looks like we have an audience.” 

Jack puts a hand for Lucio and Hana to stay down. Jabs his forefinger at Hana and points at the sky. She gives a firm nod and twists around to prepare for the calldown. Lucio’s hand tightens and Jack can see the warning in his gaze. Jack leans down, “I’ll be fine.” And breaks from the grip to walk into the courtyard.

Both Talon members face him, Gabriel’s arms drop to his sides. 

Jack levels the pulse rifle at Akande. He says nothing, watches Gabriel’s mask stare impassively across the space at him. His gaze flicks to Akande, who looks mildly curious. 

Jack tries, he really does, not to let the betrayal overtake his emotions. They’re both staring at him and Gabriel has been giving his cover away like it’s candy. It hurts more than he thought it would, Gabriel betraying him. 

“Do you really think you can take both of us on?” Akande asks incredulously. 

“I’m not interested in capturing you.” Jack keeps his voice as steady and low as possible, “I know Reaper’s been feeding information about Overwatch to Talon.” He lifts one shoulder, hopes his bluffing works, “I came for answers.”

“Answers?” Akande laughs, “We will not give you  _ information _ .”

“To what questions?” Gabriel speaks over Akande’s laughter and the other man stops short, scowls down at the reaper. 

“The council is expecting us.” Akande snaps. 

“The council,” Gabriel says, “Can wait.”

Akande’s face twists with disgust, “I knew you’d be weak to him if there was no one here to stop you.”

Gabriel’s head whips around, “Excuse me?”

“Omegas are a  _ hinderance _ .” Akande snarls, jabbing a meaty finger into Gabriel’s chest, “I told you this when you asked to join Talon. I told you to get rid of the dead weight.” 

Jack swallows, chokes on it, “ _ Asked _ ?”

Gabriel pauses, “Jack-.” His shoulders loosen, dropping down in defeat, “You don’t understand.”

Jack flips the safety on his rifle, “Understand?” He can’t breathe, his chest is clogged with anger and his heart is throbbing violently within his chest, “You  _ lied _ to me. You told me Talon was inside Overwatch.” He takes a step forward, menacing, “And it was  _ you _ wasn’t it? The entire time?”

Akande merely smirks and Gabriel-

Gabriel says nothing.

“ **_Wasn’t it_ ** _?! _ ” Jack snarls.

“You’ve always know it was me.” Gabriel’s words are quiet and the smoke around his body drifts across the surface of the courtyard. Jack watches it skirt the edge of his boots, wanting to touch, but knowing it’s not welcome.

Jack didn’t know. Jack  _ never even considered it. _

Jack had been so blinded with his love and the bond they had. He couldn’t see past frantic fucks over his desk and promises pressed into the skin of his back. He’d walked blind, running Overwatch with his mate at his side and instead Gabe was-

Gabe was-

“Gabriel Reyes was a traitor before Overwatch even fell.” Akande confirms, “He was offered a seat on the council when he returned alive from the explosion.” His grin is predatory and proud, “His legend reached all the way to my prison cell.”

The oblong mask is not facing  Jack. Gabriel is looking at Akande once more and Jack wants to scream, claw out his mates eyes.

No.

Gabriel was not his  _ mate _ . 

The pain in his chest is overwhelming and panic rises quickly. He can smell the acrid release of his hormones before he can grasp at any semblance of control. 

Gabriel’s head whips around at the scent. Jack keeps his rifle aimed despite the turmoil inside of him. He can still do his job.

_ He can still do his job _ . 

“Leave, Jack.” Gabriel croaks, “Before you get hurt.”

The ‘again’ doesn't need to be said. 

“He’s not going anywhere.” The gauntlet curls into a fist, “I’m no fool, Gabriel. You mated with him again.”

“No.” Gabriel grits, “I did not. The council doesn't want an old soldier, Akande.”

Akande’s gauntlet collides with Gabriel’s chest and the Reaper jolts violently. The smoke across the ground retreats at an alarming pace and Jack’s instincts flare. 

“What did you-.” Gabriel snarls up at Akande.

The gauntlet retreats slowly, “The council has been searching for the last remaining survivor of the soldier enhancement program from the start.”

“ _ What _ ?” Gabriel hisses.

“Soldier 76,” Akande unfolds to his full height, steps forward and leaves Gabriel frozen in place, “I will be taking you with me.”

Jack sinks back on his heels, keeps the rifle aimed at Doomfist, “I don’t think so.”

Akande continues to walk forward, slow and sure of himself, “Did you think the council would not find out?” 

“Find out what?” Jack retreats in small shuffles, eyes on Gabriel, Akande, his escape routes.

“That one of their leaders had fallen prey to a biological function as weak as a  _ bond. _ ”

Leader.

Gabriel was a  _ leader _ .

“ _ Jack. _ ” Hanzo’s voice his firm and grounding. Jack has never been happier to have a team at his back, “ _ I will create a distraction. The device on Doomfist gauntlet is a smaller replica of the one used to disperse the molecules. It instead, containing them.” _

Jack figured as much. 

“ _ Transport on standby.” _

“ _ MEKA ready for deployment.” _

“ _ SNIPER! _ ”

Jack whips back at the impact to his shoulder. Pain blooms down his arm and fire flashes across his skin. He stumbles backwards, another one hits him higher on the chest. 

“ _ Jack! _ ” Gabriel’s voice is distorted. 

Doomfist spins around, eyes on the sky. Jack is thankful for his visor because it’s the only reason he knows that the sniper is Widowmaker. 

She stands on to rooftop, one foot on the edge, rifle aimed down at Jack. She doesn’t shoot again when Jack hits the ground. A hand is pressing up against the wound in his chest and Lucio’s voice filters in.

“Jack we gotta go-.”

“ _ Are we taking Reaper? _ ” Hanzo hisses through the coms.

Jack stares across the courtyard at Gabriel, mask turned in Jack’s direction. His body is frozen, smoke stalled in a stasis.

Akande puts a fist out and a blast erupts from between his knuckles. Widowmaker darts backwards and out of sight to avoid the rubble exploding at her feet. He twists back to face Jack and Jack reaches around to shove Lucio away.

“Go.” He hisses.

“I am not leaving you behind  _ again.”  _ Lucio snaps.

“You come with me Jack or Talon will kill your mate.” Akande warns, footsteps violent across the grass. He throws his other arm out at Reaper, “They will make it  _ public. _ They will destroy any chance he has of redeeming himself to you or your silly little organization.” 

Jack swallows around the taste of blood in his mouth, the pain wreaking havoc through his body. Lucio is tugging at him. Hanzo is telling him to run so he can distract them long enough for the transport to take them out.

Jack lifts his chin, “I don’t need him.”

The words hurt with every syllable. Gabriel howls, the sad pitch of it eating through the last of Jack’s heart. 

“ _ Ryū ga waga teki wo kurau! _ ”

Lucio pulls Jack to his feet as the dragons descend upon the courtyard. His feet scramble across the plastic grass, blood seeping under the sleeve of his jacket and down his chest. Jack chances a glance back beyond the gates.

Akande snarls behind the dragons. 

  
  


-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

  
  


Jack wakes in the med-bay again. 

Lucio is passed out in a chair on the right side, head tipped over the back and snoring softly. Jack’s on his left side, right arm and upper chest throbbing. He tries to roll onto his back, but after a quick scenting of the air, finds that Jesse is curled up behind him. Jesse’s had one too many cigarettes again. 

Jack sighs, closes his eyes and inhales slowly. Lucio’s new scent is light on the tail end of baked apple pie. Jesse smells of bourbon and cheap smokes. Then there’s Rein, who left recently, his rain smell leaving morning dew lingering on the air. 

Then-

“You are awake.”

Hanzo.

Jack shifts, grunts as his shoulder twinges. Jesse snuffles behind him, “Shit. ‘orry.” His voice is slurred with sleep as he shuffles back a bit, giving Jack room to lay on his back. Jesse’s fingers grip his elbow, helping him set his injured shoulder against the pillows. 

Jack’s throat clenches when his blurry vision meets the gazes of Hanzo and Jesse. 

“Is everyone here?”

Jesse nods, “Hana’s passed out on the couch, Fareeha will be back in the morning. She’s doing damage control with Helix right now.” 

Jack closes his eyes, “And Gabe?”

Silence for a moment before Hanzo cleared his throat, “The dragons were only a distraction. Gabriel is alive.”

‘For now’ hangs in the air around them. 

“Do you really think Gabe would do this to you?” Jesse whispers, “Again?” A soft swallow, “Maybe he’s still playing for our side and ya blew his cover.”

“Were he on our side,” Hanzo’s voice is lethal and striking, “Then Akande Ogundimu would still be in prison.”

A whine bubbles from within Jack’s chest, wretched and broken. The bond writhes and burns still, sending ice picks through his heart. His scar twinges. His heart hurts.

His bones ache.

All for Gabriel.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much pain in this chapter? Will it get better? 
> 
> No.
> 
> I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be the last, my friends. 
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for the continued support, comments, and kudos. Ya'll are absolutely amazing.


End file.
